How to Fully Enjoy Summer Nights
by xXHamHamLoverXx
Summary: What happens when you stick eleven girls into one summer home? Utter chaos, that's what. Journey through the minds of our favorite SP characters as they experience drama, depression and everything that goes with it. Various pairings.
1. Leaving for our Summer Home!

Hey there!

My name is Ham-Ham-Lover, and I'm the authoress of this Stawberry Panic fan fiction! I know it's not really original, but it's the most I could come up with. There are sure to be some more exiting things going on in later chapters! Note: I DO take critisizm lightly. I know there are a few spelling errors. I am working on trying to be as creative as possible.

Disclaimer: I don't own Strawberry Panic, Spongebob, Star Wars or Harry Potter, but I DO own every single episode of Spongebob.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summer Nights: A Strawberry Panic Fanfiction

"Damn!"

A slightly irritated voice hissed it's disapproval through a dark house. Shizuma Hanazono had just stepped on a glass and it shattered under her foot. She stared down at her now cut and bleeding foot, and went to the kitchen to find some gauze for the wound. What was Shizuma so uptight about? Not even Shizuma knew herself. Maybe because this would be the first summer she would be spending full-time with Nagisa. Nagisa was graduating this year, which meant she wouldn't be held back by all that tiring schoolwork. However, school had worked its wonders on Nagisa. She had been told that she was being well nurtured in the ways of the French language, and still keeping up with her English while she was at it. Nagisa had grown to be a determined, hard-working girl...even though she was still a bit preppy and tended to get herself in trouble. Shizuma rolled her eyes at the thought. Kaname thought that she was still just like a little kid, who's hand needed to be held her whole life. But Shizuma had more faith in her than that.

A few seconds later, a ringing noise sounded in Shizuma's ears. She recognized the tone, it was Sephiroth's theme song, One-Wined Angel. She answered the phone and smirked.

"Kaname. What are you doing calling me at this time of day? What are you even doing calling me at all...?"

"Shut up, I can call whoever I want whenever I want to!" Kaname sounded a bit irritated, and at the same time, anxious.

"Okay, so you can. I was just wondering. What's wrong?" Shizuma asked, her voice losing that edge and she became a bit more gentle.

"Nagisa had been calling me all day long asking about you! Don't you ever answer your phone?! It's been 'Have you heard from Shizuma?' 'Is Shizuma at home right now?' 'Why isn't she answering her phone?' all day long since this morning! I actually want to gouge my eyes out!" Kaname huffed on the other line while Shizuma smirked.

"Why does she want to talk to me so badly? She knows I hardly ever have my phone on..."

"I don't know! Why don't you try asking her! I don't want to hear her voice in my ear 24/7, Shizuma! I have Momomi for that...always complaining..." She started muttering to herself, and Shizuma rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright...I'll talk to her. Keep your pants on...that is, if you happened to be wearing any."

"You WISH you knew what I was wearing...wouldn't you, Shizuma?" Kaname asked, and Shizuma felt her sarcasm right through the phone.

"Er...no, no thank you. I have my other fantasy on my mind right now. Besides, I don't think Momomi would approve." She paused, listening to Kaname snicker on the other line. "I'll talk to you later."

She hung up the phone, and dialed Nagisa's number. It rang once...twice...three times, and then her voice sounded. "Moshi moshi?"

"Kaname said you kept calling her. She's very irritated," Shizuma said in a playful voice.

"I'm sorry!" Nagisa said, and Shizuma could almost picture her eyes widening and her face turning puce. "I just had a great idea for what we could do to celebrate the beginning of summer..."

For the first time, Shizuma sensed a bit of mischief in Nagisa's voice. "You're making me curious. Tell me what you're thinking about."

"Well...summer nights are for ghost stories, right? So...maybe we can get a group together and tell ghost stories!" Nagisa seemed utterly exited about the idea. Shizuma couldn't help but think it was childish...but she didn't want to crush her love's dreams. So she sympathized.

"Alright, then. We can tell ghost stories. Where is this supposed to take place, anyway?"

"Well I was thinking...that we could do it at my house...or we could go to my summer home, if we could get someone to drive us..." Nagisa's voice sounded desperate and hopeful.

"I could call Chikaru and Shion...I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Who were you planning to invite?"

"Er...all of our friends. Yaya and Tsubomi...Hikari and Amane...Momomi and Kaname...Chikaru and Shion...Chiyo-chan, Remon and Kitzuna...Tamao-chan..."

"That's a lot of people. Are you sure you're going to be able to handle yourself with them around?" Shizuma asked playfully. She knew that all the couples around would surely spark up some interesting situations.

"What's that supposed to mean, Shizuma?!" Nagisa asked, looking slightly offended. Shizuma giggled.

"You're so cute when you're offended, Nagisa. I'll try calling everyone, and you just work on getting everything set up. I'm sure it'll be lots of fun!" Now Shizuma was starting to sound exited. Whatever, it was another excuse to spend time with her beloved Nagisa.

------------------------------------

Everything was set up quickly. Kitzuna, Remon, Chiyo-chan and Kagome were unable to attend because of school. Well, Shizuma wasn't really surprised. They were probably buried in homework. But Shizuma did think that it was for the better. No doubt that Kaname would have been very annoyed if children, even younger than Nagisa, were in their presence. Then again, Kaname was annoyed with the situation as it was.

"A summer trip with all of these wash-outs?! I'd rather stay at home..." Kaname said frustratedly, earning a scowl from Momomi, who was setting her bag in Chikaru's van.

"Be nice. They were nice enough to invite us, and we're not generally pleasant to be around, Kaname." Momomi gave her trademark smile, and Kaname forcefully quieted down. Hikari and Amane were already in the car, talking to each other in lowered voices. Yaya and Tsubomi were sitting against the door of the van, trying to listen. Shizuma watched the old crowd, and as she watched, it seemed like nothing had changed from the days they had spent in Astrea Hill. They were still best friends, and it amazed Shizuma. Even though they had gone their separate ways, they hadn't forgotten about each other. Speaking of separate ways...

"Where the hell is Nagisa?! Isn't she supposed to be the leader of this trip?" Kaname asked, looking around. Nagisa still hadn't shown up. What was keeping her? Suddenly, a car drove up to them and Nagisa stepped out with what looked like a big picnic basket.

"Yes, thanks mom!...Yes, I know...I know...I'll be sure to call as soon as I get there...Yes...I know...MOM! I can take care of myself...! Okay...bye!" Nagisa waved frantically as the car pulled out of the area and zoomed off on the road again. Shizuma saw her sigh and turn around, and she went rigid at the looks that she was being given. Kaname and Momomi kept looking at each other, then looking back at Nagisa as though she were crazy. Hikari and Amane were looking over their shoulders at her, and Yaya and Tsubomi were still hiding near the van.

"Nagisa! It's good to see you!" Chikaru said, and she walked over and hugged her lightly.Shion followed in suit, and Shizuma followed them, picking Nagisa up into a deep embrace.

"I've missed you..." Shizuma said quietly, smiling at her softly and kissing her forehead. A blush appeared on Nagisa's face.

"I've missed you too..." she said quietly, looking down at the ground. "Is everyone here?"

"I think we're still waiting for Tamao-chan...but everyone else besides the three girls are here. They've got school."

"Doesn't Tsubomi have school too?" Shizuma asked. As far as she knew, the girl was still in school, seeing as she had been the same age as Chiyo-chan and the other first years they had befriended.

"Well I don't know...but knowing Yaya, she probably pulled some strings and made sure she was able to come with us," Nagisa replied, smiling thoughtfully.

"I see...oh...we have to get one thing straight," Shizuma said, and she kissed Nagisa and walked over to Yaya and Tsubomi. Both of them stood up rigidly with their arms at their sides.

"W-we weren't doing anything, Shizuma-sama!" Tsubomi said nervously, looking to Yaya.

"Y-yeah! We were just...um..."

Shizuma laughed. "You two aren't in trouble. I just want to get things squared away. Hikari-chan...Amane...come out here!" she said, and Hikari and Amane appeared. Yaya and Tsubomi crossed their arms and stared Amane down, who looked back, slightly confused. Hikari was giving them a look of warning.

"There is to be no confrontation of any kind during this trip. If I find any of you...ANY of you...fighting or plotting against each other, you will answer to me personally. We want this to be a pleasant trip for everyone...so please...behave yourselves..." she said, looking Yaya right in the eyes. Yaya nodded and looked at the ground.

"Well, Yaya has been known to...er...lose control sometimes..." Hikari said, looking up at Yaya and smirking. Yaya glared and took a step forward, but Tsubomi held her back.

"Yaya-chan...you heard what Shizuma-sama said...don't be rash..."

"Yes, Yaya-chan...don't be so rash. After all, you do have your own girlfriend, right? I'd think you would have gotten over your crush on my Hikari..." Amane said, her voice as hard as stone. Yaya glared at her.

"Hmph...'your Hikari'...Did you ever think that Hikari only dated you because of your popularity?"

"Yaya-chan!" Hikari exclaimed, looking horrified.

"Hm...did you ever think that you wanted Hikari for yourself mainly because you wanted her away from me...? Like Kaname once did...?" Amane asked, raising an eyebrow. Yaya glared at her with a stony expression.

"Hikari was...is to this day...everything to me. She's my best friend. And like you said...I have a girlfriend...and that's Tsubomi, and I love her a lot. YOU never had anything like that, did you? You never had a best friend...What is Hikari to you? Your sex toy?"

Amane stepped forward, looking Yaya deeply into her eyes. "You take that back."

"Or what? You'll send your girlfriend on me? She doesn't even reach my bust!" Yaya said, rolling her eyes. Tsubomi giggled nervously.

"Take...it...back..." Amane growled, and seconds later, they were at each other's necks. Tsubomi and Hikari exchanged horrified looks, and they each pulled away their lovers from each other.

"Calm down, calm down!" Shizuma said loudly, and it fell silent. "This is exactly what I'm talking about! If you can't cooperate..."

"Discipline is elementary in this sort of situation, my dear Shizuma-_sama," _an entertained voice sounded. They all turned around and saw Kaname walking with Momomi hanging to her arm. "So trivial. So simple-minded. You can't even resolve your differences by talking it out. If you ask me, I'd say that you people are highly immature for your ages. Grow up already."

"Excuse me?! She insulted me! She's the one who started it! You agree with me, don't you?!" Yaya said, outraged at being called 'immature'. Kaname just shrugged.

"I'm saying what I think. You're all immature little girls. As for you, Amane..." Kaname suddenly said, turning to the tall, turquoise-haired woman. Amane blinked at her. "You had better stay out of my way...I won't have any of my business here be interrupted by the likes of you."

"Fair enough. As long as you promise to stay away from Hikari...or suffer...elite consequences..." Amane said, and gave her a shadow of a smile. She took Hikari's hand and led her back to the van, leaving the four other people glaring after them.

"This is what I mean..." Shizuma continued to explain. "If you don't cooperate, you'll be sent home and no longer welcome. You have been warned. Amane works really hard every day, and she deserves respect, and so does Hikari-chan. You know better than anyone else, Yaya-chan. You've known her even longer than anyone here."

"She's with someone else. It doesn't matter how long I've known her," Yaya said coldly to Shizuma, and she walked to the van and slammed the car door behind her. Shizuma looked to Tsubomi. She was wearing a very melancholic look as she looked back at her, and Shizuma felt sorry for the girl, being torn between her lover and her lover's best friend.

"Erm...Sumimasen...but shouldn't we be heading out now?" Nagisa asked, looking around the group.

The tension between the girls seemed to lift, and everyone took their seats in the van. Yaya and Tsubomi were watching a very amusing episode of Spongebob on Tsubomi's laptop computer. Amane was too busy being preoccupied with Hikari's hair. Chikaru and Shion were in the two front seats, watching the road for pedestrians and animals. Shizuma and Nagisa were kissing furiously in the backseat, and Momomi and Kaname were following in suit quick enough afterwards. Tamao had promised to meet them at the Summer home, since she hadn't been able to make it to their meeting place.

"See, and here comes the part where the Hash Slinging Slasher appears on the other side of the street, and Spongebob thinks it's Squidward all dressed up, and Squidward is standing right next to him!" Tsubomi was saying excitedly. Yaya was looking at her.

"Er...Tsubomi, you are aware that I've seen this episode fifteen times, right? We own the whole series at home."

"Oh, I know. But it's so exiting!"

"And this is coming from the girl who spends endless amounts of time in front of the TV watching Toon Disney," Yaya said, shaking her head and grinning. Tsubomi was still just like a little kid.

Tsubomi pouted. "I do NOT! I only watch it when there's nothing else to watch...and you have to admit, there's nothing ever good on TV anymore!"

"Oh, but you used to love Heroes..." Yaya said, scratching the back of her head.

"Yeah, well they killed my favorite character, so I couldn't watch it anymore..."

"That's the same thing you said about Harry Potter when they killed Sirius Black," Yaya said, rolling her eyes. "I swear, what is up with people and that series? It's just a book..."

Tsubomi went silent. "Are...you...SERIOUS?" Tsubomi asked, outraged, and she slapped Yaya in the face lightly. "How can you say Harry Potter is "just a book"?!"

"Very truthfully. Because it is what it is: a book. It's just like every other piece of literature out there, it just happens to be very crowd-appealing. I mean, think about it, hun...Star Wars was very popular when it first came out! And some people are still over-obsessed with it. Harry Potter is the exact same thing, it's just...a bit more recent."

"Yeah, but robots and stuff were SO 1970's. Harry Potter is WAY more recent. I mean, seriously. It gets kids into reading! Star Wars didn't do that...Star Wars invented NERDS."

"And this is coming from a big nerd herself," Yaya smirked.

"I am NOT a nerd! Gosh, Yaya...maybe you aren't just nerd enough," Tsubomi suggested, and went back to watching Spongebob as though the disagreement had never happened. Yaya rolled her eyes and leaned against the window. Tsubomi was sure a handful, but she was hers and her responsibility now. And no matter how much Yaya didn't want to, she was going to have to deal with it one way or another.


	2. A trip to McDonalds! Settling in

Hello again!

The infamous Ham-Ham-Lover is back with her second chapter! Through stunning acts of turmoil and heroic battles to the death, I have struggled to come to my computer and type this to the lovely people who have had the heart to pay attention to my newly adapted fan fiction. Bless the SIX people who decided to review my story. They'll be honorably mentioned at the end of the chapter. I love you guys! Yes, reviews make me very happy, indeed, indeed. Then again, with a name like Ham-Ham-Lover, you can't expect to see a Strawberry Panic fan fiction! In truth, the idea came into mind after my second run-through of the series. It's truly addicting! So, without further ado, here's the second chapter!

Disclaimer: I am disappointed to report that I do NOT own Strawberry Panic, Azumanga Daioh, Harry Potter, the "The Song That Never Ends" song, any organizations or convenience stores that might pop up later on.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: We've Arrived! A trip to McDonald's!

About a half an hour later, everyone started getting very ancy. Tsubomi and Hikari were singing "The Song That Never Ends" at the top of their voices, and Yaya and Kaname were glowering at them. No one else seemed to be paying them any attention whatsoever. Nagisa and Shizuma were sharing earphones and listening to Nagisa's iPod. Amane simply sat there, a blank expression on her face as usual. Momomi simply stared innocently out the window.

"Why did I let you bring your laptop...why?" Yaya asked, rolling her eyes. Spongebob was becoming highly annoying.

"_This is the song that never ends,_

_Yes, it goes on and on my friends_

_Some people started singing it not knowing what it was,_

_And they'll continue singing it forever just because—"_

Kaname sighed. "Why do I deal with these people, Momomi?"

Momomi simply stared out the window and shrugged. "Because you know Shizuma will be mad if you don't. That woman is scary when she gets angry..."

"Oh please. If you can get scared over something like her...SHUT UP!" Kaname shouted, and Tsubomi looked over her shoulder, startled.

"SHIZUMA-SAMA! She told me to shut up!"

Shizuma looked up from the iPod screen and looked at Kaname. "Kaname...what did I tell you...?"

"How can you NOT hear their ridiculous singing?!" Kaname asked, outraged. Hikari and Tsubomi broke into song again, and Shizuma listened, smirking.

"I find it charming and creative. It'll be something to help pass time. You know, if you had an iPod..."

"Whatever! Never mind! I'm completely tired of always being overruled by you, Shizuma-sama! We're not at Astrea Hill and you are not Etoile!"

"I may not be...but I do have your best interest at heart, Kaname-san...and I think it would be in your best interest to treat the girls with respect. After all, they haven't done anything directly related to trying to get on your nerves, have they...?" Shizuma asked, as though not expecting any other answer besides "no".

"I guess not...but still...they're disrupting my peace and quiet!" Kaname said, and she huffed and went to focus her attention on the animals outside.

"Come on, Yaya-chan! Join us!" Tsubomi exclaimed, giggling exitedly and falling into Hikari's lap.

"Yes, join us, join us!" Hikari echoed. Yaya rolled her eyes and started typing away on Tsubomi's laptop.

"No thank you...I think I'd rather keep my brain from being melted, thank you very much."

"Aww...you're no fun!" Tsubomi said, leaning on her shoulder and closing her eyes. Yaya smiled and brushed her bangs out of her face.

"What should we do then, Tsubomi-chan?" Hikari asked. Apparently, these girls were eager for something fun to do.

"Oh oh oh! We can play the "What If?" game!"

"Yes!"

"The "What If?" game? What is that?"

"Well, you have to ask a "What If?" question and other people have to give their opinions on it. For example...I would ask "What if Hikari was a teenage prostitute?"

Hikari shoved Tsubomi, her eyes narrowing. "I am not a prostitute!"

Tsubomi shrugged, as though her thought really did not matter. "I'm asking "What If," I'm not saying that you are, am I?"

"No...I guess not...damn, that's why I hate this game!" Hikari said, crossing her arms over her chest. Amane smiled and leaned on her shoulder.

"If it makes you feel any better, you'd be a damn hot prostitute."

Hikari giggled and kissed her forehead. "Thank you, Amane. Okay...so what if...hm..." She thought a bit. "What if our world was made like the Azumanga Daioh world?"

"Well, let's look at it this way. There would be orange cats flying around claiming to be girls' fathers, the world would revolve around a tiny, ten-year-old prodigy who happens to be in high school...and each of us would be portrayed as one of the main characters. For example, Tsubomi, you would be Tomo, I would be Yomi, Amane would be Sakaki, Hikari would be Kaorin, Momomi would be...hm...she could be Kimura's wife, and Kaname would be Kimura. Oh, and Shizuma and Nagisa would be some random characters put into the series as fillers," Yaya explained.

"Wait a second...why do I have to be Kimura?" Kaname asked. Hikari gazed at her from behind her shoulder, raised her eyebrows as memories of their school days came back, and she eagerly looked away and addressed Yaya.

"Yaya-chan, you watch Azumanga way too much..." she said, shaking her head. "But hey, you picked characters for us nicely. Who would be Chiyo-chan?"

"Chiyo, of course!" Yaya said, finding that highly ironic and amusing. When the "What If?" game had become boring, they started playing I Spy, a very popular car game that passed time. But as Yaya watched the two girls playing, she learned that Tsubomi must be a bit un-coordinated when it came to recognizing colors in a moving car.

"I spy with my little eye...something...green!" Tsubomi said, looking outside and grinning.

Hikari looked at her with an indifferent look. "Er, Tsubomi...we're going through the country. There's nothing green out here."

Tsubomi took another look around the countryside. Hikari was right, there was nothing green out there. The grass that the cows were munching on was yellowing, and patches of mud covered the yellowing hills surrounding them. She giggled nervously and looked back to Hikari. "Yeah...I know that. I was just testing you, that's all!"

"Sure...maybe you need a test yourself, Tsubomi. I think you should be put back in kindergarten."

Tsubomi looked horrified and clinged onto Yaya's arm. "Yaya-chan...she thinks I need to be put back in kindergarten!" Yaya smirked.

"You do act the part, Tsubomi-chan...I'm not saying it in a bad way!" she said as Tsubomi pouted disapprovingly at her. "It's cute, that's all I'm saying."

"I see..." Tsubomi replied, and she laid her head on Yaya's arm, and remained there for the rest of the trip. Hikari, having nothing else to do, focused her attention on Amane. For a while, the car ride seemed at peace and quiet. Just to mess with her, Kaname was finding ways to touch Hikari in...inappropriate places. After a few minutes of complaining and scolding, Kaname ceased when she found it boring.

"Hey...Shion-kun...?" Chikaru asked suddenly as she was staring out the window. She and Shion had switched positions and now Shion was driving.

"Yes, Chikaru-san?" she replied, looking a bit curious.

"Do you remember those times when I would be hiding scared in my dorm room, and you'd come and tell me to stop being a baby and suck it up?"

"Of course I do. I know we were part of other schools, but seriously, you were such a crybaby back in first year," Shion said, leaning back in her chair and setting her hands behind her head. Chikaru smiled softly.

"You know...for some reason...I think...that our friendship might have been growing thinner and thinner since we've been older. Is it just because we've grown up in different environments...or is it..."

"Chikaru-san, if you think that I'd forget about you, you've changed a lot," Shion said, shaking her head as though the thought was abominable. "You mean everything to me. You always had."

Chikaru smiled again and rested her hand on Shion's. "I'm glad...Shion." They stared at each other, unaware of the other people in the car watching them eagerly.

"Isn't that so romantic, Yaya-chan?!" Tsubomi asked as they watched Shion and Chikaru's antics. Yaya simply nodded her head and looked out the window.

"It's not very surprising. They've been together for years." Her voice seemed to have no emotion to it. Tsubomi, slightly concerned, kissed the side of her forehead lightly.

"Hey, Yaya-chan...are you okay...?" she asked softly. Yaya looked at her, recognized the concerned tone in her voice, and smiled.

"I'm fine, Tsubomi-chan...Just tired...and hungry..."

Tsubomi nodded, a gesture of understanding, and she called to Shion. "Hey, Shion! Is it possible to go get food soon? Yaya and I are feeling hungry!" Murmurs of agreement followed these words, and Shion agreed.

"I'm not sure when the next store is supposed to come up, but I'll look out for some signs and we'll stop at the next one, okay?"

"HAI!" nine other happy voices exclaimed. Even though they had to wait about forty-five more minutes before they made it to the nearest McDonald's, they found out from the directions displayed on the GPS system that they had less than ten miles before their destination. After several minutes of griping and complaining, they arrived at civilization.

"Land!" Tsubomi exclaimed, running out of the fan and throwing herself on the ground. Hikari laughed and followed her as they walked into the peaceful summer home by the ocean.

"Don't get too exited...remember, we have to drive back in a few days," Yaya said, kicking her in the side lightly as she passed, smirking. Tsubomi rolled her eyes.

"Jeez, way to ruin the mood, Yaya-chan!" she said, picking up her bag and dragging Hikari and Amane with her.

"Yeah! You're no fun!" Hikari said, rolling her eyes. "You're so uptight, Yaya-chan!"

"I am not!" Yaya said. "You two are just too childish, that's all..."

"Okay, everyone!" Nagisa's voice seemed to carry around the group. Everyone turned and looked at her. "If we can put our stuff away in an orderly fashion in our rooms, we can go and get lunch, okay?"

"HAI!" the group exclaimed, and they all ran into the house at once, promoting shoving, pushing and bitter comments. Shizuma and Nagisa stood next to each other, exchanging looks.

"This trip isn't going to end well...is it?" Nagisa asked her.

"Probably not. Our friends are...how can I put this in polite context...? They're a bit...rowdy."

"Wouldn't you say the same thing about us?" Nagisa asked curiously.

"We're not the ones trying to force ourselves into the door with several other people trying to do the same thing," Shizuma said, shrugging in a matter-of-factly way. "Then again, they might just be a bit "riled up" from the long, agonizing car ride."

Nagisa giggled. "I guess I could understand that." Out of reflex, she grabbed her lover's hand gently. "Let's get this trip started."

Shizuma nodded, ran a hand through Nagisa's hair, and smiled. "Yes. Let the fun times begin."

Nagisa nodded. Deep down, she had low hopes for the trip. She knew that cramming these people into one house would be as bad as an episode of Big Brother, but at least she was able to bring the people back together. That was something that made her feel good. As Shizuma and Nagisa entered the summer home, they examined it together. It had a sort of peaceful, welcoming look. It was made of wood, and there stood a dining table in the kitchen area, a pool table, a swimming pool in the backyard, a bookcase that was filled with an assorted number of books, and many other things to look at. Most of the girls had wandered off, looking around and exploring the rest of the house. Nagisa waited for about twenty minutes before getting the group together again.

"Okay...we're going to get lunch. I have to know if anyone wants to stay here...I know you all must be tired. So..." But Nagisa's words were drowned out by the stomping of the girls' feet back to the car. "I guess they're all very hungry..." Nagisa said, looking up at Shizuma and shrugging. Shizuma shrugged back, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her back to the car. In reality, another five minutes in the car was a small price to pay for a full stomach. Nothing really happened during the car trip, but some people tripped and fell out of the car when trying to get out before someone else. Nagisa rolled her eyes and smiled. Shizuma was right: their friends really were rowdy. But she wouldn't have wanted them any other way.

When ten girls went up to the counter to order something, the cashier looked utterly bewildered. Apparently, he had never received so much service at one time.

"He should see how the lines are on minimum days at my college," Yaya muttered in Tsubomi's ear, and Tsubomi shrugged. Guided by Shizuma, the girls stood in a single-file line and ordered their food one by one. It took more than a half an hour before everyone sat down and started eating. Tsubomi and Hikari were playing with their Happy Meal toys, watching miniature racecars zoom across the table at their respective lovers, who were forced to sit next to each other. Amane looked to Yaya, and Yaya looked back at her. They stared at each other for a few long moments, then Yaya rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Our girlfriends...they're so childish, aren't they?" she asked Amane. Amane looked taken aback, Yaya had never talked to her in such a casual way.

"I guess. They'll remain kids as long as they can."

"I wish they would just grow up some," Yaya said, loudly enough for them to hear. Tsubomi looked up, her car purposely crashing into Hikari's.

"Seriously, does "growing up" really exist?" she asked, shoving Hikari into the window and receiving a shove back.

"It does if you even think you're going to consider making it in college," Yaya said seriously. "In college, cheating on even one paper gets you expelled, and..." But Tsubomi wasn't listening to her. She was too busy trying to dodge Hikari's shoving, which proved difficult, seeing as Hikari shoved pretty hard.

"Hey, quit shoving me!" Tsubomi exclaimed, shoving Hikari into the window again.

"You started it!" Hikari said, shoving her back, and the useless fighting continued. It went on for a few minutes, until Tsubomi stuck her finger in her barbeque sauce and flicked it at Hikari's face. Hikari's eyes went wide, she wiped the sauce off her face, then glared at Tsubomi.

"How dare you!? How could you do something like that?!"

"With dignity!" Tsubomi smirked, tapping her barbeque-covered finger on Hikari's nose. Hikari glared still, and she stood up.

"Enough of this. I'm going to tell Shizuma-sama!" she huffed. Tsubomi went dead silent. If there was anyone who she obeyed more than Yaya, it was Shizuma.

"NOOO! Don't do it! Please, Hikari-chan? I'm sorry! I won't do it again!" she said, holding onto her wrist to keep her from walking over to Shizuma's table.

Hikari's forehead pulsed. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tell Shizuma-sama that you—"

"Tell Shizuma-sama what?" a cool voice spoke. Shizuma had just gotten up from her table to go get straws, glancing at the girls who were seemingly arguing. Both Hikari and Tsubomi froze.

"Uh...w-we were...just...er...well..." stuttered and utterly frightened Tsubomi. Hikari subtlety sank back into her seat.

"Oh, they were just being prats to each other, is all," Yaya said, even though she too felt some sort of intimidation whenever Shizuma was around. She always looked so superior...so powerful.

"Being prats to each other, eh?" Shizuma said, raising her eyebrows at the two girls, who shamefully looked down at the table.

"H-hai," they both answered. Shizuma chuckled softly and shook her head.

"You aren't getting punished, there's nothing to worry about. It just...we're in a public place. Try not to be so rowdy...Hikari-chan, why is there barbeque sauce on your face?"

Tsubomi went as pink as her hair, and Hikari shook her head. "I-it's nothing. We were just messing around...we'll be more civil next time, Shizuma-sama."

"Good," Shizuma said, and she nodded to Yaya and Amane, and she went off to get straws. No one talked to each other until Shizuma was out of earshot, then Hikari turned to Tsubomi and leaned her head into her.

"Goodness, that was frightening!"

"I hear ya!" Tsubomi whispered back. "I swear...whenever she comes near us..."

"Well, she's not the worst one..." Hikari said, and they both turned their heads. Kaname had just gotten up to go to the bathroom, and she both gave them a hard look as she passed. Hikari, having had a bad experience with Kaname in the past, pushed herself as hard as she could to the window.

"I wish Shizuma would have told _her_ off, too," Tsubomi said, trying to sympathize. Hikari nodded, and they continued eating their food. Once everyone was finished, they took a trip back to the summer cottage, and everyone lounged around the sitting room. Nagisa stood in the middle of them all, looking as though she were in charge, though looking very intimidated by the large group.

"W-well, we've all made it here safe and sound...I guess."

"Well, it's not as though any of us are going to get a broken leg simply jumping out of a car," Kaname said, her voice full of sheer wit, and she smirked. Nagisa went red in the face.

"S-so...we need to figure out what we're going to do next. I mean, we didn't come all this way to sit and do nothing like we do at home every day, did we?"

"Hear, hear!" Tsubomi and Hikari chanted, trying to give her a bit of support. Nagisa smiled and looked to Shizuma, who nodded approvingly.

"So what do you suggest we do, O Great One?" Chikaru asked, smiling.

"Well, what do you _think_?" Nagisa asked, almost smirking.

"Don't tell me..." Shizuma chimed in, her eyes going wide.

"That's right," Nagisa said. "I'm thinking Truth or Dare."


	3. Tamao's Entrance, Shizuma's Jealousy

Hello! Once again, this is the infamous Ham-Ham Lover with her third chapter of this lovely, heart filling, time consuming...okay, I'll stop. But getting to the point, people have been telling me that character personalities are a bit off. Please note that this is a fan fiction, and I am allowed to do whatever I want, even if it is seemingly "incorrectly portrayed" in your minds. Also, I have some news. I'll be making ANOTHER SP fan fiction in the course of writing this one. So after I post this chapter, I'll be working on two at once, so please bear with me.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Strawberry Panic, Truth or Dare, Fall Out Boy or any other copyrighted things that may appear in this fan fiction. I do, however, own an electric piano and every single Fall Out Boy album.

* * *

Chapter 3: Tamao's Entrance, Shizuma's Jealousy

There was a long pause in the room after Nagisa's proposal of playing "Truth or Dare."

"You CAN'T be serious..." Yaya said, rolling her eyes.

"Yaya-chan, maybe Nagisa has a point...we haven't played the game in a while, have we?" Tsubomi offered, smiling. Apparently, her sugar supply had died out and she was back to her normal, uptight, mature self. "I mean, I'm not saying I want to..."

"Sure you aren't. And what's with the attitude all of a sudden? Done showing off for Hikari?" Yaya asked, smirking. "Is that why you've been acting all rowdy?"

Tsubomi's face flushed. "T-That wasn't the reason! I was just...er...I was feeling hyper, that's all!"

Yaya rolled her eyes. "Sure, keep on making up excuses, Tsubomi-chan. Well, you being hyper for a change was highly amusing, in my view." Hikari nodded her approval.

"W-well don't expect it to happen again!" Tsubomi exclaimed, and she turned her head. Yaya looked to Hikari and rolled her eyes.

"Everything she does centers around impressing you, Hikari-chan..."

"Yaya-chan! Shut up!" A few seconds later, the two girls were on the floor wrestling each other. Nagisa and the others watched interestedly for a few minutes, then Shizuma clapped her hands.

"Enough, enough. You two are obviously having fun, but we need to do something instead of just standing around...you know? It makes us look stupid."

Tsubomi attempted to push Yaya off of her, but Yaya smirked and sat on her. "YAYA-CHAN!"

"Be quiet and take it," Yaya said, rolling her eyes. "If you didn't struggle so much, then it wouldn't be so much of a hassle, would it?"

Tsubomi crossed her arms and glared at Yaya indifferently. Nagisa blinked at them, looking thoughtfully interested. "O-okay then...well, next, we have to pick who's going first."

"I'll go first," Kaname said, smirking. Each head in the room turned to her, and a chilled silence followed. Kaname going first in truth or dare was not a good thing.

"Okay, then..." Naigsa said, and took a seat next to Shizuma, looking very concerned. Shizuma smiled and ran a hand through her hair.

"Now, Kaname...there are some rules for truth or dare. First, there can be only three truths and one chicken. If you choose to chicken out, hence using your chicken, we're allowed to dare you to do something even more horrible next time around. Dares can go as far as streaking down the street, but nothing more, got it? That means no sex in front of other people..."

"Damn it," Momomi muttered, snapping her fingers. Kaname smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Really, now? Like I'd have sex in front of you...fine, rules are rules. Now, who to pick..." Her eyes scanned the group at large. Each girl flinched every time she made eye contact. "Tsubomi, truth or dare?"

Tsubomi sighed and scratched her head. "Um...truth."

"Okay, which of you are more dominate in bed, you or Yaya-chan?"

"You can't be serious!" Tsubomi exclaimed, looking horrified. Yaya was determinedly looking in a different direction.

Kaname shrugged. "That's the beauty of truth or dare, Tsubomi. No matter what, you can make the game brutal and unfair. And that's how I play it."

"W-well...to answer your question..." Tsubomi started, her face scarlet. "Well...it's mostly been Yaya-chan, but I've had to lead a few times before because she was being stubborn."

"Stubborn like how?" Kaname asked, sounding interested.

"Well, she wouldn't take my clothes off, for one thing," Tsubomi said hotly, and she crossed her arms and looked to Yaya. Yaya gave her a purely innocent look.

"What? It's sexy when you lead..." she said, smirking, and Tsubomi rolled her eyes.

"Geez, Yaya-chan..." she said under her breath, and she looked to Kaname. "Satisfied?"

"Actually..."

"Don't say anything, you're not getting anything else out of me," Tsubomi said harshly, and Kaname rolled her eyes.

"I'm not about to be told off by a kid."

"Oh, you're planning to back yourself up?"

"Of course I am. That molecular-sized brain of yours doesn't compare with mine, hun," Kaname said hotly. Momomi was watching with a slight curiosity, the others were following in suit. Kaname, who was tactical and scheming, and Tsubomi, who was easily offended and very defensive, was a tough combination. It was trying to the human mind that one would, eventually, end up defeated.

"Oh really? And what are you going to do about it? Tie me down and rape me?" Tsubomi asked coolly.

"If it comes to it," Kaname smirked.

"The subject of rape seems to be a very trivial subject to you. Or is it that you've had so much practice with Hikari?"

Kaname went silent, her lips tightened. That reference in particular touched a pulsing nerve in Kaname's brain. Tsubomi smirked, looking satisfied, and did not dare look over at Hikari. After a few hours of playing, a few of the girls had stripped (including Shizuma; most of the girls were horrified), yelling commenced, uncontrollable laughter continued for about five minutes, and a few neighboring houses could even hear the chaos that was a game of Truth or Dare. Now that the game was over, the girls settled in again. It was mostly quiet, except for the TV, which was playing a live concert from Fall Out Boy. Amane and Hikari were sitting on the couch, watching. Kaname and Momomi were nearby, though were far from watching some stupid rock concert.

Yaya was sitting outside on the sand near the ocean, looking out at the great beyond. How far did the sea stretch? Did it even end? Was love the same way...or was that fated to end, as their lives were? These questions buzzed in Yaya's head like many angry bees, and it made her eyes water lightly. She hadn't even noticed when someone had sat next to her.

"Enjoying the view?" Tsubomi's voice sounded, and Yaya turned her head to look at her, still lost in her thoughts.

Tsubomi smiled lightly. "You seem troubled. Are you troubled, Yaya-chan? Not thinking about death again, are you?"

"No. Well, not exactly," Yaya replied, and she leaned on Tsubomi's shoulder gently. "I was thinking about love."

"Ah," Tsubomi said, and she seemed to understand without having to be given an explanation. "I wonder about that sometimes myself. It's a very abstract thought, it can't really be explained through simple words or science. Sometimes it's just there...and we deal with it, right?"

"Of course," Yaya said, smiling at her. "That's what humans have to do. We have to deal with the things that are thrown at us in order to survive. That's why they have car crash simulations in America, to teach kids about drunk driving."

"They teach kids in America about drunk driving?!" Tsubomi asked, looking interested. "Well I'll be damned. They have to be taught everything."

Yaya laughed a bit. "Well, so did us, when we were kids."

"Do you know what I heard? I heard that American kids don't usually start learning Japanese until middle school, sometimes even high school!"

"You're serious?!"

"Yes!"

"Wow," Yaya said, and she sighed. "It's amazing what a small place the world can be...but it's also a very fast, mysterious place."

"People look at the world in different ways," Tsubomi said, laying on her back and staring at the sky. Yaya lay herself next to her. "By the way, Yaya-chan...I have to ask you something important..."

Yaya looked at her for a second, then looked back to the sky. What could she possibly want to ask? "Yeah?"

Tsubomi sat up and looked at her with a serious look. "Do you still have feelings for Hikari?"

Yaya sighed. It was a difficult question. In a way, she did...but her heart was taken by Tsubomi. There were times when she would be near Hikari, and she would think about the times they had spent together. And there were times when she couldn't stand being near the girl.

"I don't know. I might...does that bother you?" she asked softly, looking to Tsubomi.

Tsubomi's expression softened. "No...I just wondered. I sort of still have...a thing for her too," she said, and she lay back on the sand again, looking up at the sky. "It's just something that we're going to have to deal with, no matter what. It's not like we can burn her out of our minds."

"True," Yaya agreed, nodding, and she scooted closer to Tsubomi and lay her head on her shoulder. "But we do have each other to keep us occupied."

Tsubomi laughed a bit. "That's true. But if we're going to end up like Kaname and Momomi, always trying to bring her and Amane down..."

"Who knows? The goal could be fun..." Yaya said with an evil twinkle in her eye. Tsubomi, out of instinct, scooted away and sat up. "We could put them in their place...let them know who's boss."

"Shizuma is the boss," Tsubomi said, and Yaya gave her an indifferent look.

"Shizuma can't boss us around."

"Yeah, she can."

"Well, not if we stand up to her."

There was a pause.

"We can't do it."

"Nope."

For some reason, both of them started laughing, even though there was nothing remotely funny about it. It was probably the effect of Yaya's rambling, or simply the effect of them being alone, together, with no one around, only the sounds of the ocean keeping them company.

---

Back in the cabin, Nagisa and Shizuma were eagerly staring out the window. Nagisa had just gotten a call from a frantic Tamao, who had instantly started apologizing for her untimely-ness, and she was due to arrive in about fifteen minutes. Nagisa seemed utterly exited, but Shizuma questioned the girl.

"She's a bit odd," she said, leaning against the couch while Nagisa was propped on her knees and staring out the window.

"Shizuma! You're only saying that because you don't like the fact that she's so close to me. I AM allowed to have other friends, and I've known Tamao since I first went to Astrea Hill!"

"...You've known me for that long, too," Shizuma muttered.

"Yeah, well...we met on strange circumstances," Nagisa said, her face flushing about three layers of red, and looked down at Shizuma. Shizuma looked back and smirked.

"Oh, how I remember that day..." she said, sighing.

Nagisa pouted and looked at the window again. "It's not funny, Shizuma..." The sound of a car passing received her full attention, and she squealed loudly, making Kaname, Momomi, Amane and Hikari flinch.

"SHE'S HERE!" she said loudly, and she threw the door open and charged off to the acar that was pulling up in the driveway. Tamao was stepping out of her convertible, said goodbye to her mother, and instantly dropped her stuff when she noticed Nagisa bolting towards her. She took a shocked step back.

"Nagisa?! Is that you?! Goodness...you've changed."

"Changed?" Nagisa asked, smiling widely. "Like how?"

"Well..." Tamao started, and she took a step back and examined Nagisa, and Nagisa felt as though she were being stripped and clothed again. "Your bust size, for one thing, and I think your hips have gotten a bit more...curvy..."

"I guess we came at a wrong time?" a voice said. Yaya and Tsubomi had just come back from their time out on the ocean. They were looking at Tamao and Nagisa questioningly.

"You know, you shouldn't be checking Nagisa out while Shizuma is here, Tamao-chan. She'll get mad," Tsubomi said seriously, but Tamao waved her off.

"Oh, it's fine, it's fine...oh, hello Shizuma!" she said cheerfully, and she waved as Shizuma stepped out into the driveway. Hikari and Amane followed her, and Kaname and Momomi, who truly didn't care about Tamao or her appearing, were back in the house. Shizuma looked at Tamao and nodded her head slightly. She instinctly wrapped her arms around Nagisa's waist, as though marking her territory. Tamao rolled her eyes and turned to talk to Amane and Hikari.

"Tsubomi, let's go inside. I'm pretty sure we could...find something to do..." Yaya said, and Tsubomi nodded and followed her inside. Nagisa thought she heard Tsubomi whisper "weirdo" under her breath to Yaya, and Yaya silently agreed. She guessed they were referring to Tamao. But Tamao wasn't weird to her at all...well, aside from the picture-taking and the constant measuring of her body, but she had gotten used to that. She was her best friend.

"Tamao-chan! We have to do something to celebrate!" Nagisa said suddenly.

Tamao giggled. "There's no need, really! But...I did bring a selection of movies," she said with a mischievous grin, and Nagisa smiled.

"Let's watch one!" she exclaimed, and she took Shizuma and Tamao's arms and walked them back into the cabin.

"Erm...Before we do, I want to have a word with Tamao...privately," Shizuma said, and Tamao stopped in her tracks, looking at her. _Good,_ Shizuma thought. _She's already intimidated._ She took Tamao's shoulder firmly and walked her to the backyard. Tamao put her hands in her pockets and looked innocently at Shizuma.

"What is it, Shizuma?" she asked.

"Don't give me any fluffed-up crap like that. We both know the reason why you're here, and she's inside making popcorn right now."

Tamao looked utterly surprised. She'd never seen Shizuma so firm with her words. Then again, she rarely saw Shizuma at all, even back at Astrea Hill. "What do you mean by that?"

"We all know you, Tamao-chan. Don't think the reason that you're here has slipped under my nose. The girls are already talking about it. And I'm not going to go through this trip without my thoughts being heard. Now..." She backed Tamao up against a wall. "I want to make one thing clear. You're not going near Nagisa, got it? You're not touching her, you're not sitting close to her, you're not doing anything. Understand?" Shizuma asked, a large emphasis on the last word.

Tamao smirked and put a hand to Shizuma's chest, pushing her back so she wasn't against the wall anymore. "Shizuma, I am allowed to. I _am_ her best friend...you're just..." A thought suddenly dawned on her. "You're just worried that I might come between you and Nagisa, aren't you?"

"Damn right I am! You're not going to do anything to taint this relationship...I _will _make sure of it," Shizuma said, and she turned around and started to walk back into the cabin.

"My dear...Shizuma. What good is a relationship if you can't fight for it?" Tamao asked, and Shizuma whirled around on the spot, staring at her. Tamao smiled at her, and it gave Shizuma a chill down her spine. It was a cheerful smile, but it was a plotting smile...an _evil _smile.

"You know...that I'm going to try my best...to be close to Nagisa, don't you? We're already close enough as it is...you saw the way she greeted me. She's completely joyous at the fact that I'm simply here. You really want to try to tear her away from me? My my, Shizuma...have we forgotten who we're dealing with?" she asked in a soft, innocent-but-cold voice. Shizuma just stood there, astounded. This girl was never going to give up.

"I'd advise...that you stay out of Nagisa's and my way...It would do Nagisa a lot more good if she didn't have to be around you all the time, Shizuma. She doesn't need to be catered to...and you'll find that out eventually. But, by all means, continue what you're doing. I'm not going to stop you...however, I will warn you not to get too close to her while I'm here. It might cause...problems." Tamao smiled again, her infamous, eerie smile, and walked right past Shizuma into the house, where she was automatically hailed by Nagisa's exited voice.

Shizuma backed herself against a wall, closing her eyes and staring into blackness for a while. Maybe Tamao was right...maybe she did hang onto Nagisa a bit too much. Would Nagisa get tired of her? Would she want to leave her? No...she wouldn't do that. She knew her too well...loved her too much. But if Tamao was right...

Shizuma snapped out of her apprehensive state and walked into the room, looking over to the main living room. She watched as Nagisa looked over Tamao's shoulder into a box which Tamao was holding, which was full of different DVD's and VHS tapes. She watched the two and their antics...they seemed to sync well with each other. Tamao, with her "energetic-but-reality-based" personality and Nagisa, with her cute, charming, giggly nature clashed perfectly. She rolled her eyes and sat on the couch next to Yaya and Tsubomi, who were in deep, muttered conversation. Shizuma had never really fit in back at school, and she was already thinking that she would never fit into society either.


	4. The Chaos Begins!

Hello, everyone! Ham-Ham-Lover is back with her fourth chapter! I haven't even decided when this story is going to end...I've never had a story with more than two chapters...I'm a bit surprised at myself. But this story isn't going to go on and on. The girls only have so much free time on their hands. We'll just see how it goes.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Strawberry Panic or any other copyrighted things that may appear during the course of writing this fan fiction. However...I DO own a soul. And many...many...many Disney movies. Thanks to Lestaki for the "psychotic, possessive bitch" comment. It was amazingly funny. And thanks to all the usual readers who submitted reviews. You really brighten up my day.

* * *

Chapter Four: The Chaos Begins 

"Shizuma, stop this..."

"It's only a matter of time, Nagisa."

"What are you talking about?! You're being ridiculous!"

It was Saturday morning, the next day. Everyone was in bed, asleep. They had ended up watching endless amounts of Disney movies all afternoon and evening(which Tsubomi seemed to enjoy), and people started getting tired. Nagisa and Shizuma were awake, sitting in their room. Nagisa's face was flushed, a slightly angered look on her face. Shizuma was looking out the window at the scenery, avoiding her gaze.

"Ridiculous?" Shizuma repeated, laughing coldly. "What's ridiculous is the way that Tamao has been acting around you! It's inappropriate and very childish!"

"She...only...wants to spend time with me..."

"You're very blind, aren't you? Can you not see? She loves you! She'll do anything to have you..." Shizuma continued to stare at the window.

Nagisa's mouth opened and she stared dumbly at Shizuma, as though unable to believe what she was hearing. "N-no...you're lying..."

"Lying? Do I ever lie to you, Nagisa-chan?" Shizuma asked, glancing over at her lover. "Tamao is trying to do me in. She wants me away from you."

"I-I'm sure Tamao-chan is only wanting to be with me as friends and...If she says some things...I think she might be over reacting a bit..."

"Over reacting? You didn't hear what she said..." Shizuma offered, and she shuddered at the memory of it. "She'll do anything."

Nagisa sighed. She had never been lied to by Shizuma, yet she didn't really believe that Tamao would jeopardize her relationship with Shizuma. She was her best friend, and best friends weren't supposed to do that kind of thing. It was almost unbearable to even think about it. But Shizuma had never lied to her before. And so Nagisa didn't know who to believe, or who to stand up for. She supposed it was just something she was going to have to decide: whether to stand by her lover, or to stand by her loving, caring friend.

"Okay, Shizuma. I'll try talking to Tamao-chan. Just try not to be too mean, okay?"

"As long as she stays out of my way."

"Oh, Shizuma...you're always so protective."

"What can I say? I'm hopelessly in love," Shizuma said, smiling. "Tamao just doesn't understand."

"Tamao-chan understands perfectly well. She was by my side all the time during the year we met, she knew everything that went on. She knows as well as I do that I love you," Nagisa said firmly, crossing her arms. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd stop attacking her."

"I'm not attacking her."

"No, of course you're not. You're just attacking my judgment."

"That's not fair. I'm worried, okay?"

"You're being a psychotic, possessive bitch. Knock it off already, okay?"

There was a slight tension in the air for a moment, then Shizuma sighed and nodded.

"Okay, Naigsa-chan...I understand," she said softly, and she turned around and walked out of the room, leaving Nagisa alone. Nagisa sighed and sat on the bed, ironing her face with the palms of her hands. It was as though she were going to have to choose who to remain loyal to: her best friend or her girlfriend. It was very tiring, and Nagisa didn't know if she could handle this kind of pressure. She sighed, shook her head, and slipped back under the covers of her bed, trying to go back to sleep. If anything, she and Shizuma needed some time away from each other. Besides...she had to figure out what she was going to say to Tamao...when she got around to talking to her. There was no doubt in her mind that Tamao would be very hurt by it, but if Shizuma was telling the truth, she thought it would be better for the three of them if the situation was set straight. And that was exactly what Nagisa was going to do.

--

Meanwhile, Tsubomi and Hikari were sitting in the living room, having a whispered discussion. They had just seen Shizuma walk into the room and they didn't want anyone to know what they were talking about.

"Tsubomi-chan. Are you saying there's something wrong with Yaya-chan?" Hikari's worried voice asked.

Tsubomi leaned against the couch, her arms crossed and deep in thought. "Well...I wouldn't say..."

"Is she sick or something? You know, she hasn't been acting herself as much as she usually does. Then again, she usually acts like herself...well, what I'm trying to say is that she's been acting strange," Hikari said, staring at Tsubomi. "She hasn't been too...happy...and I don't really see her eating or hanging out with anyone."

"Well...she's had a lot on her mind," Tsubomi said matter-of-factly.

"Like what?" Hikari asked, raising her eyebrows.

Tsubomi's mouth opened momentarily, closed, and she looked away from Hikari. "I...well...she's been thinking about things like love...and death."

"Death?!"

"Hai."

They stared at each other for a few seconds, which seemed to last for hours. Then Hikari let out a sigh. "Well at least you seem to make her happy."

"Me?" Tsubomi said uncertainly, turning a light shade of pink.

"Of course you," Hikari said, smiling brightly. "She doesn't care about anyone else more than you, being with you makes her happy. You can tell by the way she looks at you."

Tsubomi played with her fingers and looked up at Hikari sheepishly. "You _really_ think that?"

"Of course. Yaya-chan is my best friend. I know everything about her. And you probably do too, you're always doing things to try to get her to be happy."

Tsubomi shrugged. "It's my job, I guess."

Hikari giggled. "Hey, I have an idea. How about we give Yaya-chan a wake-up call?" Tsubomi looked at her quizzically. The blonde girl rolled her eyes and took out two little devices, one of which had a red button on it and the other was a small recording box with a clip on it.

"What's that?" Tsubomi asked. "An American product?"

"Yep! It's called a fart machine...watch," Hikari said, and she clipped it to Tsubomi's pants and pressed the button. Tsubomi blinked for a second, then started giggling.

"It's awesome! Here, I wanna do it!" She took the recording device and they both tip toed to the room Tsubomi and Yaya shared. Yaya was still in bed, snoring loudly. Tsubomi shared a look with Hikari and Tsubomi entered the room quietly, applied the recorder to the back of Yaya's bra, and scurried out of the room.

"So now what?" Tsubomi asked, playing around with the control.

"We wait for her to wake up," Hikari said, shrugging. "So we don't look suspicious...let's go downstairs and get breakfast started, eh?"

"Why would we do that?" Tsubomi asked.

"Well, no one would expect adorable little angels like us to do something so bad as to prank someone while they were sleeping, now would they?" Hikari said, with a smirk, and Tsubomi blinked.

"Are you okay, Hikari? I think you might be sick, too."

Hikari simply laughed and put an arm around her friend's shoulders, and walked her off to the kitchen. The whole house was filled with the smell of bacon, eggs, sausage and toast within a matter of twenty minutes, and life seemed to spring from the rooms as the smell entered the rooms. The first two down were Kaname and Momomi, who looked as though they hadn't even been in bed at all. Perhaps they had been too busy getting ready. Momomi stepped into the kitchen and saw the two girls cooking, and she smiled.

"Look, Kaname, aren't they the cutest?!" she cooed, rubbing both of their heads. Tsubomi looked at Hikari in the corner of her eye, and smirked. Kaname poked her head in for a quick second, then rolled her eyes and left.

"It's suspicious. They're obviously up to something."

"Oh Kaname, stop blaming them. They're adorable!" Momomi said, and she walked off into the other room. They finished cooking as others started to wake up, and Tsubomi piled stuff on a plate and took it in her hands.

"I'm going to take this up to Yaya-chan," she said, smiling at Hikari, who was making juice.

"What for? She can come down and get some herself," Hikari said.

"Well...if she's happy when we pull the prank, she won't go as hard on us," Tsubomi said, rolling her eyes and slapping Hikari on the shoulder.

"Oh, makes sense," Hikari said, nodding, and Tsubomi went off. Yaya was, predictably, still asleep. Tsubomi set the plate on a nearby table and sat on the edge of the bed, watching Yaya sleep for a minute or two. She looked peaceful, but she was restless. She kept moving around as though she were having a nightmare, and Tsubomi frowned and shook her lightly.

"Yaya-chan? Time to wake up..." she said quietly, and Yaya rubbed her eyes and looked to her.

"Oh...Tsubomi..." she said, and she kissed her. Tsubomi's face went flushed for a second, and then shook her head.

"Well I brought you breakfast," she said, and she plopped the plate of food in Yaya's lap. Yaya looked stunned.

"You made...breakfast?" Yaya said, as though Tsubomi was from a different planet.

"Um...yeah. Me and Hikari. We happened to be awake when everyone else was asleep, and we decided to cook for everyone. I'm sure Nagisa is tired of it by now..."

Yaya smiled and hugged her. "You're very sweet, thanks Tsubomi..." she said, and bit into her fried egg.

"Hey, anytime," Tsubomi said, and she got up and walked to the door. "Just...take it easy from now on, okay?" she said with a desperate tone. Yaya blinked at her, examining her face, and nodded. Tsubomi smiled at her and walked out of the room, joining the others. Hikari was in Amane's lap, watching T.V. Kaname and Momomi were pining over a laptop computer and talking in lowered voices. Chikaru and Shion were mysteriously absent, as was Shizuma and Nagisa. Tamao was sitting on the couch beside Amane and Hikari, writing something in a small book. Tsubomi went to the kitchen to check on food, she gave Hikari a look, which she returned, and they said nothing of their plan.

Yaya finally came downstairs a few minutes later, yawning and stretching, still in her pajamas. She put her plate in the sink and kissed Tsubomi on the side of her forehead. "Why did you wake up so early and make breakfast for us?" she asked.

Tsubomi shrugged. "I woke up early, I dunno," she said, smiling at her. "If you're still tired, you should go back to sleep."

"Nah...I'm not that tired," Yaya replied, and she went to go sit on the couch next to Tamao. Tsubomi smirked, a frying pan in her hand and another hand in her pocket, and she added pressure to the button that controlled the machine. A particular noise echoed through the room, and the residents all stared at Yaya. She blinked and looked around.

"What? That wasn't me...," she said, and she stood up and it happened again. Hikari was on the floor giggling at this point, and Tsubomi was leaning against a wall, trying not to laugh.

"Really, Yaya-chan..." Kaname said, rolling her eyes. Tamao looked up, wondering what was going on. Amane simply sat there, looking uninterested but amused at the same time. Tsubomi was pressing the button every time Yaya took a step. Yaya looked utterly frustrated and sat down.

"What the hell is..." she started, but she just then felt something like a lump on her back, she felt up her back and pulled out the recording device. She turned it over in her hands, examining it. "...What is this?"

Hikari looked away, holding her breath. Tsubomi's insides were on fire just from the effort it took not to laugh at the expression of confusion on Yaya's face. Yaya's head turned and she looked at Tsubomi, an eyebrow raised.

"It had to be you...wasn't it, Tsubomi-chan?" she asked, closing in on the smaller girl. Tsubomi pressed herself against the wall.

"Hey, hey...don't blame me. You know that happens if you eat too fast..." she said, smirking, and Hikari simply lost it and burst out laughing.

"Oh yeah? It doesn't happen every time I take a step, now does it?" she Yaya asked, raising an eyebrow. Tsubomi casually shoved her hands in her pocket, shrugged, and pressed the button again. Yaya glared at her, and Tsubomi pouted.

"Yaya-chan, how can you suspect me? I made you breakfast, goodness..."

"Then why is Hikari laughing her head off?" Yaya asked. "Obviously you two were up to something." However, Yaya decided to believe her and turned around, only to hear that distinguishing noise again. She sighed and turned back to Tsubomi, who was still looking innocent.

"Tsubomi...don't make me..." she said dangerously, and Tsubomi giggled and took the control out of her pocket, throwing it in the air and catching it again.

"Amazing, huh? Hikari brought it with her," she said, looking over to Hikari. Hikari's eyes widened and she ran over to Tsubomi and took the control away.

"You weren't supposed to tell her that!" she hissed, and they both stared at Yaya.

"You do know...that I have both of you right where I want you...don't you?" Yaya smirked, watching the two of them and crossing her arms. Tsubomi and Hikari shared a look.

"...Run away!" they cried together, and they ran off in different directions. Yaya ran after them throughout the whole house. The other residents simply sat there and watched their antics. After a while, they gave up, and all three of them were lounging around the house with the others.

"Honestly, you two are impossible," Yaya said, rolling her eyes.

Tsubomi smiled and laid her head in her lap. "Hey, you need to have some sort of fun too, Yaya-chan."

"I know, Tsubomi-chan..." Yaya said, smiling. Hikari was sitting on the couch next to them, in Amane's arms, and was flipping through the channels on the TV. She passed through a few hundred channels before finally getting to...Disney Channel.

"Hey, Tsubomi-chan..." Hikari said, looking over her shoulder at her and smiling.

"Nani?" Tsubomi asked, hearing the familiar theme song of a Disney show.

Hikari switched the channel so that High School Musical 2 was on. "That."

Tsubomi smirked and got up, pulling Hikari next to her. "Come on, let's dance."

That statement led to two hours of singing, dancing and laughing...most of the laughing supplied from Yaya and Tamao, even Kaname joined in the laughing after a few scenes. Suddenly, Nagisa emerged from the kitchen; Shizuma was, predictably, latched to her arm.

"Er...Tamao-chan... Shizuma and I need to speak with you," Nagisa said quietly, withering under Tamao's disapproving gaze. The Spican girls watched carefully.

"Alright, then," Tamao said, and she stood up and obediently walked over to the two loves. Shizuma gave Tamao a look, which Tamao returned with a smug expression. The three of them walked out to the backyard, which accurately would be compared to a field. It was certainly a good place to be if you wanted privacy. Tamao guessed that was where they'd been since that morning, simply off in their own little world, not caring about anything else. Her eyes closed at the thought.

"Tamao...we...have to talk about something," Nagisa stated, staring her best friend straight in the eyes.

"I'm listening," Tamao assured her, looking straight at Nagisa and avoiding Shizuma's gaze at all costs. She could almost feel Shizuma's brooding gaze of hate piercing the back of her forehead.

"I love you both," Nagisa said, looking from Shizuma to Tamao in unison. "And I know you both love me. But please...you have to get along with each other. This trip isn't going to turn out very well if you two are constantly at each other's necks. I mean, look, Tamao-chan...Yaya has gotten over Hikari..."

"Yaya has Tsubomi. So she's forced to get over it," Tamao said, crossing her arms.

"Well, I have Shizuma, and so you have to get over your feelings too," Nagisa said sharply. Tamao recoiled, she had never expected to hear that sort of edge in Nagisa's voice. "Honestly. You two act like a pair of children, fighting over who gets the last Popsicle in the refrigerator. Grow up. I mean it," Nagisa said, and as though that solved the matter, she opened the sliding glass door and slammed it shut behind her, leaving Tamao and Shizuma outside together, in a stunned silence. Nagisa's words had stung, very much so.

"You're a bitch, you know that?" Shizuma said, narrowing her eyes.

Tamao narrowed her eyes back. "And you're the biggest whore in Japan. But I suppose being Etoile was the only thing that gave you at least SOME credit at Astrea Hill. You turned out to be respected, instead of just being a whore."

"Nagisa doesn't seem to mind me being a whore," Shizuma smirked, and Tamao gave her an indifferent look.

"Maybe she doesn't," Tamao replied. "And maybe she does think that we need to grow up, but I know damn well better than she does that it's not the issue here."

"Why is it that you're always trying to win her over?" Shizuma asked, crossing her arms and tilting her head in a curious gesture. Tamao looked away.

"It's none of your business."

"Then cut it out."

"I won't. It's my goal...one day I will be closer to Nagisa than you ever were."

"Fine. I'll leave you up to that. But that day is going to come the same day _when pigs fly_. And if I know my animals, Tamao...pigs aren't generally built to fly."

"If by pigs you mean you...you're absolutely right," Tamao said, smiling unpleasantly.

"I have an idea. How about we settle for a truce? We'll make Nagisa think that we're mature enough to handle ourselves. We don't want Nagisa thinking we're immature, now do we?" Shizuma said quizzically.

"But we are," Tamao said. "We don't want Nagisa thinking we're liars, now do we?"

"You're a scheming girl, Tamao-chan. I guess I can give you...some credit. But I have to give you some advice too. Stay out of my life...or I'll make yours miserable."

"Mine is already miserable enough with YOU in it," Tamao said sweetly, and with that, she followed after Nagisa into the room with the other girls. Shizuma shook her head. This girl had no idea who she was messing with.


	5. Of Search Parties and Mixed Feelings

Hello again, hello again! It's Ham-Ham-Lover, back with chapter 5! I've been informed that...well...Tsubomi and Yaya have been centered on a bit too much. That might be...partly my fault. Seriously, they're an awesome couple. But yeah, other couples do need to be accounted for. I generally wanted to focus on all of the characters, but it comes to show that the whole thing with Tsubomi slash Yaya is pretty much the center of the fan fiction. So yes, you'll see a lot of them. Shizuma and Nagisa are planning to be a lot more active, and...Drum roll please...Chikaru and Shion. People have been begging for more of them. Please note...this fan fiction isn't solely focused on Tsubomi and Yaya. Other characters DO have their moments. If I truly wanted them to be the center of attention, they would be, and the other characters would make appearances every...ten seconds or so. Eh, I guess other characters do need to be accounted for. So here you have it, chapter 5.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Strawberry Panic, nor do I own any other copyrighted things that might appear in this fan fiction. I do own each Strawberry Panic episode on DVD, though. I AM a buyer, not a down loader.

* * *

Chapter 5: Of Search Parties and Mixed Emotions

As the day wore on, the question of where Chikaru and Shion were was floating through the house. So, the search was decided. It was obvious that they were nowhere to be seen.

"I wonder where they could have gone," Amane said thoughtfully as they all met in a big group in the living room, High School Musical was still playing in the background.

"We should split up and search for them!" Hikari said happily, clapping her hands together.

"YEAH! Let's do it!" Yaya said, trusting a fist in the air.

"YEAH! Let's NOT!" Tsubomi said in mock excitement, and Yaya caught her in a headlock.

"I think that's a great idea!" Tamao put in, smiling at the group and finally looking away from Shizuma and Nagisa, who were, of course, staring lovingly into each other's eyes. "We'll go on a search. A few of us can stay here while others go into town and look for them. It'll be an adventure!"

"Brilliant! I'll go with Tsubomi and Yaya into town. It beats getting stuck here!" Hikari said, latching her arm around Tsubomi and Yaya's, forcing them away from each other so Yaya wouldn't choke poor Tsubomi to death.

"I suppose I'll be going along with them, too," Amane said profusely. She didn't want to be stuck in a group with Yaya, but then again, she didn't want to be left with people she didn't like without Hikari beside her, either.

"Okay, so it'll be me, Shizuma(she practically spat the name out of her mouth), Nagisa, Momomi and Kaname staying here and...Tsubomi, Yaya, Amane and Hikari will go to town and look for them there, and if we can't find anything, we'll meet back up here and we'll switch, correct?" Tamao said to the group.

"Oooh, that's a good idea, Tamao-chan!" Nagisa said happily, and Tamao beamed at her.

"What are we searching for, again?" Kaname asked. She and Momomi had just joined the group, though seemed a bit awkward nonetheless. It was probably the fact that they usually strayed away from the main group and went off on their own, and never had any time for socializing. It would be accurate to say that they weren't really "socially accepted", but were just there. Tamao wasn't even sure why they had been invited. They were probably lonely, she supposed. Then again, Kaname and Momomi weren't really ones to complain about being lonely, they had each other.

"We're looking for Chikaru and Shion. We haven't really seen them since this trip started."

"They're probably off making out somewhere in their own little dreamland," Yaya offered, kicking Tsubomi in the back of the leg. Her leg gave way and she let out a disapproving growl.

"Maybe...just maybe," Tamao said, and smirked. "If we can find them at it...well it would be the scoop of the century, wouldn't it?"

"This is something we would need Kitsuna and Remon for," Hikari said. "They're geniuses at stuff like this. Detective work...it's the proper way to say it."

"It's stalking. I think they're brilliant, and they're simply adorable together!" Yaya said, smiling widely. "They won't admit it, but they both have got a huge crush on each other."

"Wouldn't doubt it," Tamao said, rolling her eyes. "So, are we all ready to head out?"

"Hai!" the happy voices sounded, and instantly, two different groups went in different directions, and the search for Chikaru and Shion began.

--

"So, if I were Chikaru or Shion, and I wanted time alone with the other, where would I go...?" Yaya asked herself as the group of Spicans walked along the sidewalks. Tsubomi and Hikari weren't listening, Tsubomi was fiddling around with her iPod and Hikari had one of the ear pieces in her right ear. Amane blinked at Yaya, wondering if she should respond or simply wave the question off as one that didn't needed to be answered, but her better judgement got ahold of her.

"Maybe a restaurant? Or some sort of small cafe?"

"Sounds like something a couple would do..." Yaya said, still looking as though she was in deep thought. "Let's just take a look around a few shops, and we'll stop for something to eat during the afternoon, and we'll report back to Tamao."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Amane said, watching the back of Hikari's head as she talked to Tsubomi frantically about the band they were listening to.

Yaya looked to Amane. It wasn't like her to fully answer one of her questions, seeing as they didn't remotely enjoy talking to each other. But Yaya wasn't convinced that she and Amane, the former Prince of Astrea and Etoile, had gone through more than four sentences without glaring or throwing critisizing remarks at one another. Maybe Tsubomi was right, maybe they should start a new alliance of friendship, and maybe they should try getting to know each other instead of hating each other simply because of jealousy. _And besides_, Yaya thought in her head,_Tsubomi would kill me if she found out that I still haven't gotten over Hikari_. _Look at me, being a baby about it, and look at her, talking and laughing with her as though she was never uncomfortable being around her before. How is it that a girl, obviously younger than me, can be so mature about things I'm never mature about? And how is it that we miraculously ended up falling in love? _

"Um...earth to Yaya-chan? Come in, Yaya-chan," Amane's voice finally sounded in her ears, and a hand waved in front of her face. Yaya snapped out of her deep thoughts and looked to her. Amane was looking at her curiously, her head tilted to one side.

"What? Oh...yeah. Sorry about that. I was thinking."

"About Tsubomi-chan?"

"How did you know _that_?!" Yaya exclaimed, almost not believing this.

"Your eyes were glazing over. And plus, you were staring at the back of her head for about the entire time you remained silent, so I assumed you were thinking of her." Amane smiled a bit and leaned closer to Yaya, so only she could know what she was saying. "What do you see in her, anyway? I mean, you used to think she was a nosy prat."

"I still think she's a nosy prat," Yaya smirked, and Tsubomi, obviously realizing that she was referring to herself, turned around and scowled at her. Yaya smiled mockingly at her and she turned around to talk to Hikari again. "But there's a difference to what I thought of her then and what I think of her now."

"And what is that difference?"

"Well. It's quite simple." Yaya stuffed her hands into her pockets, looked at the back of Tsubomi's head, and looked back to Amane. "Back then, she was just a nosy prat. Now she's _my _nosy prat. And she's my responsibility now. I have to take care of her. Do you know why?" Amane shook her head. "Because she chose to give me a chance instead of just hanging onto Hikari for the rest of her life. It's been a growing experience for the both of us. I'm sure you understand, being...in love...with Hikari..." She looked away and Amane smiled softly.

"Do you still think about her?"

"Sometimes." It was as though Amane was choosing to ask the questions that would cause Yaya the most pain to answer. It was a bit scary to her that Amane seemed to x-ray into her mind and pick out the things that were on the top of her mind. Then again, maybe Yaya's mind was like a book, picked up and looked at easily at leisure. Was she that damn predictable?

Amane nodded and seemed to understand, and wasn't at all worried that Yaya still thought about Hikari from time to time. Yaya had expected her to tell her to back off. The blue-haired prince stared at Yaya, and she smiled a bit.

"How about we call it a truce for now? There's really no reason for us to dislike each other," she said, and she held out a hand to Yaya. Yaya was heasitant for a few seconds, then she stretched out her own hand and shook Amane's, looking up in her eyes and smiling.

"So we'll be friends, then?" Amane asked curiously. The thought had never crossed either girls' minds. Ever since Amane started dating Hikari, their relationship had been on the edge of a cliff. They had never even looked each other in the eye...besides to glare at each other. Yaya had even stopped talking to Hikari for about a week, then she had gotten tired of it and they made up. But the fact still remained that the tension was still there.

"Friends? Friend...is a strong word. Maybe we could be...allies? Acquaintances?" Yaya suggested.

Amane shrugged. "Fine with me." They looked at each other for a few seconds, then smiled at each other. Tsubomi and Hikari were walking back wards and watching them, their eyes shining.

"Aww...look how cute they are, becoming friends!" Hikari cooed.

"We've taught them well," Tsubomi said, looking to Hikari and nodding. Hikari nodded back and they smirked at their lovers, who glared at them.

"I hope you run into a pole," Yaya said, kicking at Tsubomi, who smirked and dodged the kick.

"Let's get back to the task at hand. We're supposed to be looking for Chikaru and Shion," Tsubomi put in, and the rest of the girls nodded. They eagerly entered a shop and started looking around for the seemingly-absent couple.

--

Back at the summer cottage, each of the girls were putting in one-hundred percent of their strength into searching the entire premises for Chikaru and Shion. So far, they were not in any of the rooms and were not in the field or pool house, and they all met in a circle and discussed it. Well, more debated it.

"They're not here, Tamao-chan," an irritated Kaname spewed out. She hadn't really wanted to spend her summer vacation looking for people who apparently didn't want to be found.

Tamao thought for a bit. "Hm...I wonder where they could be..."

"They're certainly not around, and they haven't been around since we got here. It's amazingly mysterious..." Nagisa implied, and Shizuma nodded.

"It's not mysterious! It's perfectly clear. Obviously they're off making out somewhere and they don't want us to see them. Well I for one think that it's stupid. Couples should be proud that they're couples," Kaname said, crossing her arms, and Momomi smiled at her with shining, admiring eyes.

"Oh, I fully agree," Shizuma said, wrapping an arm around Nagisa's waist, just for the sake of doing it right in front of Tamao.

"So, if any of us were to go somewhere with a lover, where would we go...?" Tamao asked, looking around at the two pairs of couples.

"A cafè?" Nagisa suggested, shrugging. "It would be romantic, I think."

"An excellent thought, Nagisa-chan!" Tamao said, and Nagisa beamed at her. Tamao gave Shizuma a smug look, and she turned to Kaname and Momomi.

"What do you say?" she asked them. Momomi and Kaname shared a look, almost surprised that they were being talked to. They obviously weren't aware that their opinions mattered.

"Well, I think it's a good idea," Momomi said. Kaname, having nothing else to say on the matter, simply shrugged.

"Alright, then!" Tamao said, clapping her hands together. Nagisa blinked for a second, then her hand went into her pocket, and she pulled out her cellphone. She pressed the number 6 button and put the receiver to her ear.

"Nagisa? Who are you calling?" Momomi asked curiously, cocking her head to one side.

"Two little Lulim girls whom are very familiar with the past-time of sticking their noses into other peoples' business," Nagisa said, with an uncharacteristic sort of mysteriousness in her voice.

In no time at all, there was a knock at the door. The others turned their heads to the door and wondered, and Nagisa went to the door and opened it. There they were, the infamous duo of Lulim, Remon Natsume and Kizuna Hyuga, arm and arm, and looking pleased with themselves.

"Wonderful, you two made it," Nagisa said, pleased, and Kizuna smirked.

"Well of course we made it! We wouldn't miss an oppritunity to snoop around...now would we?" She looked over at her lover, who nodded, pushing her glasses a bit farther up her nose.

"Of course not! And I mean, it's to find Chikaru-senpai, right?" Remon said with a small smile. "We haven't seen her in a while, you know. It would be nice to see her again."

"Alright, here's what I ask of you two..." Nagisa said, addressing the newly-found couple. "I want you two to go into town and look for Chikaru and Shion in places that you would think they would be. And I want you to be sneaky about it. Got it?"

"Nagisa-san, sneaky is what me and my girl do best, right?" Kizuna stated, placing an arm around Remon's waist.

Remon nodded. "Of course. We'll do it!"

"Right. Now I'm counting on you two, okay?"

"Roger that!"

"Let's go!" With that, Kizuna pulled Remon off, still holding her waist, and Momomi smiled after them.

"They're a cute couple, aren't they?" she asked Kaname. Kaname shrugged indifferently.

"Depends on how you look at it. They're almost as evil of a duo as we are, Momomi. I think we might have had a bad influence on the incoming first year students when they first came to The Hill."

"Well, look at Tsubomi. She's still the same as she always was. I always thought she was cute..."

"You're testing me again, Momomi."

"Well I'm sorry. There's no need to get jealous, Kaname," Momomi sneered.

"I'm NOT jealous!" Kaname huffed, her eyes narrowing. "Why would I be jealous over you saying a younger girl is cute?"

"Because your face shows it." Momomi smiled sweetly at the look Kaname gave her, and she hugged her gently.

"You know I'm only kidding, right?"

"Didn't sound like it," Kamame said, turning her head away slightly. Momomi frowned and clutched her tighter. They didn't know how long they stood there, holding each other. But one thing was for sure: they hadn't noticed that all of the girls in the room went back to searching, to give them some room.

--

In the meantime, Chikaru and Shion were out doing some shopping. They were laden with about three or four large bags of food, electronics, playing cards, CD's and other assorted, random items.

"Shion-kun, remind me again why we're doing all of this shopping...?" Chikaru said pleasantly, kindly. Her voice seemed to flutter into Shion's ears as she spoke, and she smiled inwardly.

"Well, this is a chance to be with you without having to be interrupted by our many...erm...friends back at the summer home," Shion said, winking at her. "Besides, shopping is fun. And we've never gone shopping together, have we?"

"True," Chikaru said, nodding in approval. "But there is the fact that they might be wondering where we are."

"Let them wonder, then," Shion said, shrugging matter-of-factly. "I'm sure they won't mind if we're not there."

"If you say so." Little did they know that Kizuna and Remon were steadily following their trail, ducking under tables and behind garbage cans and buildings in order not to get caught. Shion was a bit suspicious of the sudden noises that arose behind them and she kept turning her head, forcing the two girls to scurry off into hiding.

"Damn! Shion keeps patrolling...what are we going to do?" Kizuna asked, looking at Remon.

Remon shrugged her shoulders. "We're just going to have to keep playing it steady. There aren't any objects to hide behind up ahead...it might be difficult, hun."

"I know. Here, I have an idea..." She pulled Remon into a nearby store, watching Shion and Chikaru through the window. They passed them and they ducked until they were out of sight again. "Damn it, that didn't work."

"Wait, I see them!" Remon exlcaimed. Shion had just set down the bags of stuff and was sitting at a table outside a cafe. Chikaru was sitting close to her, smiling, looking into her eyes. Shion looked back at her, getting lost in her gaze, and looked away, flushed.

"Chikaru-san."

"Hai?"

"What kind of relationship do you think we have?"

Chikaru was puzzled with the question. She really didn't know. Chikaru had been friends with Shion since she first transferred into Astrea Hill. They had always been close, always watched out for each other, even though they were in seperate schools, and saw each other whenever they could. Chikaru had never thought of Shion as "more than a friend." But now that Shion brought it up, they did see each other more than regular friends did. They did more things than regular friends did, and whenever there was that occasional touch, that occasional moment when their eyes met, there was something that connected, something that clicked. Chikaru sighed, shook her head, though for a minute. She stared at Shion deeply in the eyes.

"I have no idea. I suppose we're...close friends, right? I mean...we would know if we were...something more...wouldn't we?"

"Or maybe we're just too stupid to admit it to ourselves," Shion said, raising an eyebrow at her. Chikaru laughed a bit and nodded.

"Yes, that too. I guess we were too adolescent to think about having relationships when we first met..."

Shion nodded in approval, and they spent a few moments simply staring at each other, lost in each other's gazes. Before they knew it, their faces were getting closer together. Body heat radiated from each of their bodies. Maybe it was just the heat of the moment...

They kissed. It was a fleeting feeling for both of them, it was almost as though they didn't want to stop, pulling each other deeper. Neither of them had experienced something so amazing, so different...then they pulled away from each other, their faces still flushed.

"I...uh...well..." Shion started nervously, playing with her fingers in her lap. Chikaru simply stared at the table, lost for words.

"I guess that's it, then."

"I guess so."

There was silence. Then they both started as they heard something like a twig snap near them. They heard a soft "Damn it!", and knew they were being watched. Shion and Chikaru exchanged a look, and Shion got up and walked over to the building nearest them, pulling out Kizuna and Remon.

"I thought they were following us since we left the supermarket. Kizuna and Remon...they're yours, are they not, Chikaru-san?" she said, holding each of the two girls by the back of the shirt. They looked mournfully at Chikaru, who gave them a look of sympathy back.

"Yes, they are. They must have been sent to tail us, Shion-kun."

"I would imagine," Shion replied, and she let go of their shirts and sighed. "Alright, who's idea was this?"

Kizuna and Remon blinked at each other, then got on their knees. "We're not worthy!" they echoed each other.

Chikaru giggled and pulled them up from the ground. "You're not in trouble. It's nice to see you two again. Who are you with?"

"Nagisa and her group...uh oh," Remon said quietly, and out of nowhere, Yaya punched Shion on the arm in welcome.

"Shion! Chikaru! We've been looking everywhere for you!" she said exitedly. "Good lord we've found you..." Amane, Tsubomi and Hikari followed.

"We're sorry we caused so much trouble with you girls," Chikaru said kindly, smiling at them all. "But it's nice to know me and Shion have been missed."

"Well, duh. You bring life into that place. You don't know how tense it's gotten...oh yeah, I've got to call Nagisa," Yaya said, and she took out her cellphone, a Verison Wireless model, and sent Nagisa a text saying "Meet at the Corner Cafe" in Japanese. She closed the phone and looked back at Shion and Chikaru, who were eyeing the rest of the girls. It was certainly a big group now that the other girls were starting to show up, and Chikaru was partically glad. But she was also looking forward to more alone time with Shion. About ten minutes later, Nagisa and her group arrived, totaling to thirteen girls all in the same area.

"So now that we're all here, up and rearing, with full of energy we need to burn off...what should we do?" Nagisa asked, and the girls talked exitedly about a few different things.

"Maybe laser tag?" Tsubomi suggested, shrugging.

"Hey, that's a good idea! It would be fun for a lot of people to play!" Hikari said, and Amane nodded, agreeing with Hikari as always.

"Well then let's go!" Chikaru said, and the exited cheers of the girls followed.

* * *

My friends, Chikaru and Shion have been mentioned. I deem myself...god. I'm just kidding. 


	6. Lazer Tag

Hello again! Hello again! Welcome to Ham-Ham-Lover's sixth edition of "How to Fully Enjoy Summer Nights"! I don't really have much to say in the introduction for this chapter, only that it's going to be good. And I plan to update a lot more now, seeing as my new semester of school is about to start, and homework will be put on hold for about half a week. I also plan to pull a few all-nighters. Now I know how Nagisa feels...

**Disclaimer:** The usual things. I don't own Strawberry Panic, but I would like to. I own the DVD's, and that's about it. Crap, I don't even own Guitar Hero yet...

Important information: The Lazer Tag teams were picked at random by me. I actually DID pick them at random. Yes, I have no life. Go figure. Also, it's going to be a longer chapter, yay me!

Chapter 6: Lazer Tag

When the girls entered the arcade, they and their "significant others" ran off in different directions. Nagisa, to Shizuma's dismay, let Tamao tag along with them, since she didn't have a girlfriend. It was almost, Tamao thought, as though they were rubbing it in her face. It was infuriating sometimes, but she managed. It was for Nagisa's sake, after all. Shizuma seemed to take this into effect as well. If they didn't behave themselves around Nagisa, they would be in serious trouble with her, and that wouldn't be good at all. They had already been told off once, and that had been horrible enough.

Meanwhile, Hikari, Yaya and Amane were watching as Tsubomi started up a game of Guitar Hero II. All except Amane knew this particular video game, but that was mainly because she had never had time to play any video games...and had never taken an interest in them. Tsubomi pressed a series of buttons to get to the main song menu, and chose "Dead!" by My Chemical Romance. She only knew a few words, but she liked the tune and the rythym of the notes.

"Hey, Hikari, wanna play in Co-ed mode with me?"

"Sure!" Hikari exclaimed, and she picked up the neighboring guitar. She strapped it around her shoulders and held it in a sort of rocker position.

"Very sexy," Amane smirked, and Hikari turned red and punched her shoulder. The song started and Tsubomi started the melody, pressing buttons and concentrating solely on the game at hand.

Yaya and Amane watched, cheering their lovers on as they played. And suddenly Yaya got an idea.

"Hey, Amane-sama..." she said, and she pulled Amane's sleeve so that her face was level with hers, and whispered. Amane nodded some and smirked.

"Brilliant. I like how you think, Yaya-chan."

"Of course you do. Now wait for the right moment." Halfway through the song, Yaya gave Amane a look, and they both stepped foreward. Yaya stuck out her tongue and slowly licked Tsubomi's neck, who shivered and yelped, missing a few notes.

"YAYA-CHAN! What the hell was that for?! You made me mess up!" she said, red-faced and aggitated. Hikari was giggling and trying to swat Amane away with one hand while trying to play the game.

"Oh, don't give me that. You enjoyed it. I felt you shiver," Yaya said, smirking and winkng at her.

Tsubomi rolled her eyes, swore lightly, and continued to play.

--

Over by the other arcade games, Kizuna and Remon were off playing one-person shooters. Kizuna was taking careful aim at a zombie that was coming near Remon's character, and Remon was eagerly pointing at Kizuna's side of the screen, trying to shoot the one closest to her.

"Kizuna, a zombie is right in front of you!" Remon squealed, shooting eagerly at her own screen now.

"Duh, I know that!" Kizuna said, and she shot it and it fell. The camera moved to a new area in the game and more zombies arose. Kizuna looked over at Remon's screen, there were way too many zombies attacking her for her to get them all on her

own, but she was managing. She decided to shoot the one closest to her, and Remon smiled at her.

"Aww, you're so nice."

"It's my job to protect ya, right?" Kizuna said, punching Remon on the shoulder, and Remon blushed and gave her a sort of uncertain nod-shrug before concentrating on her screen. After taking out many zombies and using up half their tokens, Remon sighed and sat against one of the machines. Kizuna sat next to her and lay on her shoulder.

"I didn't know video games could be so tiring," Remon said, brushing a few bangs out of Kizuna's hair.

"Well, look at Dance Dance Revolution. No one can do that for too long or they'd die," Kizuna said, looking over at the DDR panel and watching some 8-year-old on an Expert level. "I mean, seriously. How many rounds of DDR do you think a person can go through in a row? I've never survived more than three."

"That's bad. I survived like more than...four...at least. Well not in a row. But I do wonder what the record for most DDR games ever played was."

"Or is," Kizuna said, looknig very interested now. "We should look it up in the Gunies Book of World Records when we get home."

Remon nodded and smiled thoughtfully. "Yes, we should."

There was a slight pause in which awkward silence resided. They had fallen out of conversation and were looking around the arcade area, wondering what they could talk about. Before she knew it, Remon's face was being pulled towards Kizuna's for an ever-lasting kiss. It didn't matter that a few families were passing by and muttering about them, their minds were focused on each other and each other alone.

--

Tamao and Nagisa had decided to play Air Hockey. Shizuma was sitting in a chair watching them, giving Tamao looks now and then, and smirked when one of her looks threw Tamao off and Nagisa stole a point. The blue-haired girl's withering glare bore across the room for a few seconds, then she went back to playing. Shizuma smiled triumphantly. No matter what Tamao did, Shizuma was always going to overpower her.

"Hey, I'm going to go rent us some equipment for Lazer Tag. Tamao, can you put all of this stuff away?" Nagisa asked, giving Shizuma a warning look that told her she shouldn't mess with Tamao while she was gone.

"Yeah, sure thing," Tamao said, smiling and nodding. Nagisa kissed Shizuma as she left, and pulled Tsubomi along with her, since she was the one who suggested this activity in the first place. Shizuma got up from her seat and walked to Tamao's side, who refused to aknowledge her presence except for an unnoticeable flinch.

"You know, you're doing that wrong," Shizuma said. Tamao froze for a minute, then looked up at the older girl distainfully.

"How do you reckon that?"

"You're supposed to go take the pucks to the counter," Shizuma said, pointing over her shoulder. Tamao sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Always have to be the one who's right, don't you, Shizuma?" she said, picking up the pucks out of the machine and taking them to the counter. "I honestly don't care."

"My, my...someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Shizuma smirked. "Listen, I'm trying to make pleasant conversation here."

"You're not doing a very good job, are you?" Tamao snapped, looking irritated. "Pleasant conversation with you never turns out very...pleasant, you know."

"It's within the eyes of the beholder," Shizuma said, shrugging. "I'm just wondering who's going to be on Nagisa's team during Lazer Tag. Oh, wait...I don't have to wonder, I already know." She gave Tamao a smug look.

"Seriously, how old are you?! Acting like this isn't going to make a good ipression on anyone, and certainly not me." She felt Shizuma's warm hand on her shoulder, and her muscles went tense.

"Relax, girl. Have fun with it," Shizuma said, brushing some hair out of Tamao's face. She went flushed for a second, then shook her head as though trying to clear it out of the sinful thoughts currently swimming through it.

"You...if Nagisa's sees you doing that, she'll..."

"She'll be glad. We're bonding, right?" Shizuma said, smirking. "It's what she wants us to do."

"She doesn't want you to try to pick me up!" Tamao retorted, and tried to pull away from her. Shizuma grabbed onto her shoulders to prevent her from moving anywhere. A muscle in Tamao's jaw twitched.

"Oh, but it's so much fun. And you are a pretty girl, Suzumi-san," she said, and pressed her lips against Tamao's earlobe. Tamao's legs almost gave way, her vision went blurry and she could sence a budding headache.

"Y-you..."

"I advice that you learn what you're up against before challenging it," Shizuma whispered in her ear, and she smirked and walked over to wherever Nagisa was, leaving Tamao there cursing herself. _Oh god, no...Why did I let her to that to me? Stupid Tamao...simply stupid..._And as thogh her legs were like jelly, she waded over to the rest of the girls, who hadn't noticed a thing...or so she thought. She reluctantly saw Kizuna and Remon exchange looks as they saw her pass, and Tamao grabbed both of their shirts and pulled them off to the side.

"You two saw nothing, got it?!" Tamao said fiercely. Kizuna and Remon exchanged a look again, then looked back at Tamao.

"Got it. But...I just have one question. Why would Shizuma-sama come after you?" Remon asked, and Kizuna nodded, looking equally interested.

"Look, ask her yourself, because I have no idea. She probably wants to mess with my head...and I have to admit, she does a pretty good job of it. But I'm not letting her get to me!" Tamao crossed her arms.

"Well, if she's bothering you, you should tell Nagisa," Kizuna said. Remon shook her head at her.

"No, Nagisa would get mad at her. I don't like the image in my head I'm getting of Nagisa being mad..." Remon said, and she shivered.

Tamao thought for a minute. Maybe she SHOULD tell Nagisa what Shizuma did. If Nagisa got mad enough...she might tell Shizuma that she thought they needed a break from each other. Then Tamao could make her move...but that was silly to think about. She didn't want to hurt her best friend's relationship, even though she didn't approve of it. Well... she dind't approve of Shizuma. She decided to push the thought to the back of her head, to focus on having fun. She took Remon and Kizuna back to the arcade area, where their friends were starting to try on the equipment for Lazer Tag.

"So, am I right in saying that Yaya's college actually has MEN in it, too?" Shizuma asked all of a sudden. Yaya nodded grimly.

"It's true. Co-ed dorms and everything. I hate it."

"Erlack," Tsubomi said, disgusted, as though she had never heard of such a thing. "What if you had to share your dorm with a man?"

"I'd die. Fortunately, I'm currently living in a single," Yaya said, hugging Tsubomi with one arm. "So you don't have to worry about me flirting with other girls. As far as I know, the only lesbian girls at the school are part of GSA."

"Sucks," Tsubomi said, shaking her head. "If I ever had to go to a Co-ed college..."

"Just tell the men you're a lez. Didn't really work well for me, but..."

"What do you mean by that?!" Tsubomi said, an edge in her voice. "Are they teasing you or something?!"

Yaya fidgited uncomfortably, and Tsubomi was convinced. "Yaya-chan..." she said, a concerned tone in her voice. "...are the people at your school teasing you?"

"A-a little bit..." Yaya finally uttered out.

"Doesn't sound like "a little bit". They did something bad, didn't they?"

"It's nothing to worry about..."

Tamao blinked and shuddered as she heard the word "teasing". She had never been teased because of her sexuality, seeing as her mother had married another woman after divorcing her abusive father. It had always been alright with the people around her that Tamao was lesbian. But being teased because of it would suck majorly. She walked over to Nagisa, who was busy trying to count everyone's money that they had pitched in for the Lazer Tag game, and at once was under the gaze of Shizuma. Shizuma winked at her, and her complextion turned pale and she walked away.

Nagisa looked a bit confused. "Shizuma, what's wrong with Tamao-chan? She looks as though she's just seen a ghost."

Shizuma shrugged. "I have no idea. She might just be hungry." Though she smirked inwardly, knowing the exact reason why Tamao was acting so cautious and afraid.

"You did something, didn't you?" Nagisa asked slyly, smirking at Shizuma. "You know Tamao-chan doesn't approve of you being near her at the moment. Why do you have to go and mess with her like that?"

"You seem to find it amusing," Shizuma said, rolling her eyes. "In any case, I'm only doing it for the sake of you."

"Sure you are. You just like messing with people's heads. Not to mention Tamao-chan is very cute..."

Shizuma made a face at her and Nagisa giggled, kissing her cheek. "I'm only joking."

"Sure you are," she said, and latching herself onto Naigsa's arm, she led her off to the other girls getting ready to go into the Lazer Tag area.

--

Once everyone was dressed and armed, Tsubomi stood in the middle of the group, looking timid, though exited.

"Okay, so here's what we're going to do. We're going to split up into groups of two, I guess. Seeing as we only have thirteen people, one person is going to have to be a neutral player and will be vulnerable to others' attacks. However, she will also be able to attack whoever she wants, so technically it's a win-win situation. Whichever team gets the most points will be able to pick their teammate in round 2, and will be treated to free lunch, curtosy of the catering business. There will be three rounds in the whole game. The teams for this round have been picked at random."

"Tsubomi-chan, that was a wonderful explanation of the rules!" Hikari said, clapping lightly. Tsubomi flushed and gave Yaya a smug look. Yaya rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Tsubomi is like a walking rulebook. She knows everything."

"Oh shut up!" Tsubomi said, flushing more. Anyway, the teams are as follows." She pulled out a piece of binder paper from the inside of her clothes and red out-loud. "These teams were made by the lady at the front desk and I have no connection with the choice of teams at all. I don't even know what the teams are yet..." She looked at the paper and cleared her throat. "Team number one is Chikaru and Nagisa."

Nagisa smiled at Chikaru, who gave her a thumbs-up.

"Team number two is Remon and me," Tsubomi said. Remon groaned lightly, only loud enough for Kizuna to hear.

"Team number three is Shizuma and Tamao."

Tamao gave Shizuma a very disgusted look. Shizuma only stared in disbelief at Tsubomi, who shrugged at her and mouthed "Gomennasai..."

"Alright, Team number four is Momomi and Kaname...as if no one saw that coming," Tsubomi said, rolling her eyes. Momomi and Kaname smirked at each other.

"Team number five is Yaya and Kizuna."

Kizuna looked to Yaya, and Yaya looked back. They both shrugged and gave each other a high-five.

"Team number six is Amane and Hikari. Shion will be the neutral player in this round. Sorry, Shion," Tsubomi added as a sympathetic thing, and Shion shrugged.

"I think everyone is happy with her team mate," Yaya said to Kizuna, and Kizuna shrugged.

"I don't think Tamao and Shizuma are very happy." She pointed over to the two team mates, who were glaring at each other.

"Just don't get in my way," Tamao said, though her voice trembled. Shizuma shrugged.

"Sure."

"Is everyone ready?!" Tsubomi exclaimed, standing next to Remon, who was pointing to Kizuna, and who was pointing back as though they were saying 'You're going down!' "Alright, all we have to do is wait until we're allowed to go."

There was a long silence following that statement, then a mechanical buzz could be heard, and the girls ran off in seperate directions. The first ones to duck and hide were Kaname and Momomi, who were already making use of their walkie-talkies.

"Kyashiki to Kenjou...come in Kenjou. Over."

"Kenjou reporting. Whereabouts?"

There was a pause.

"Kaname," Momomi's voice sounded irritated.

"What?"

"You need to say 'over'."

"Why?"

"Becuase it's the right way to do it!"

Another pause...then Kaname reluctantly said, "Over."

"Whereabouts are in sector 3, over by...erm...that really big rock where the watch station is. Over."

"Roger that. Kenjou on her way. Over."

"Over."

And with that, Kaname switched the talk button to "off" and attached the walkie-talkie back onto the uniform velcro belt. For some reason, it seemed quite silent wherever she walked. Then she heard someone whisper "Yaya-chan, don't stand there, people are going to see you."

"No they won't..."

Yaya was perched above a five-foot high rock about ten feet away, her Lazer gun in hand and pointing down into the darkness. Kaname rolled her eyes and ducked behind a few other rocks so she wouldn't be seen, and pointed her gun and shot at Yaya. Her clothes flashed a bit, and the machine built into the clothes uttered out "Minus 1," while Kaname's said "Plus 1."

"What the hell?!" Yaya uttered.

"I told you someone would see you!" Kizuna's irritated voice sounded, and Kaname hurried away, snickering to herself.

_Too easy...I wonder who the top three teams will be?_ she thought to herself, and went off to find some others to take down.

"Okay, everyone..." Tsubomi was trying to say over the rantings of the other girls about a half an hour later. The mechanical bell sounded the end of the round, and everyone had gathered around in the designated meeting place. Tsubomi was

to announce the three highest scoring teams. "Um...everyone...quiet..."

"HEY! PIPE DOWN, YA MORONS!" Yaya yelled loudly, for the sake of her girlfriend. The girls settled down and turned their attention to Tsubomi, who smiled sheepishly at Yaya in thanks.

"Okay, I will announce the top three teams of this round. Ranking third, with a score of six, Team #5, Yaya Nanto and Kizuna Hyuga, each with three points each."

Kizuna and Yaya smiled at each other and nodded, crossing their arms and looking superior.

"Second place is Team #3, Shizuma Harazano and Tamao Suzumi, with eleven points, Tamao earning six and Shizuma earning five."

Shizuma and Tamao looked at each other for a brief second, nodded at each other, then looked away.

"In first place is a tie between Team #4 and Team #1, Team #1 being Nagisa Aoi and Chikaru Minamoto, and Team #4 being Momomi Kiyashiki and Kaname Kenjo, each team having scored fifteen points."

Nagisa and Chikaru cheered. Momomi and Kaname didn't seem to like the idea of sharing their stardom.

"So do we get to pick our partners for the next round or what?" Kaname asked bitterly.

"W-well yes, I suppose so..." Tsubomi said.

Nagisa hurried off to Tamao's side, to Shizuma's indifference. "Sorry," Nagisa said sheepishly to Shizuma, who glared at Tamao. "I promised her I'd be her partner for round 2...I'll be your partner next time, okay?"

They went through the next two rounds. The winning girls and their teammates(Nagisa and Chikaru, Kaname and Momomi, Tsubomi and Remon, and Tamao) all left the Lazer Tag area after undressing and went to get their free pizza, while the others

cleaned up.

"This is just wrong," Yaya said as she put all of the guns in a bag and carried them off to the front counter. Amane had folded all of the clothes, and Shion was trailing behind them. Shizuma had no comment.

"I think it was fun!" Kizuna said, smirking. "I totally tackled Remon onto the ground and she was whimpering and saying 'No...stop Kizuna...' and Yaya-chan looked around thinking we were doing something bad."

"I did not!" Yaya said, turning puce, and walked back to the group. "Let's go play some more games while the others are eating."

So they did. Tsubomi brought back pizza for her and Yaya to share, and the rest of the girls exited the arcade, sweaty, but livened.

"That was fun! What are we going to do next?" Hikari said exitedly.

"Remon and I are going to see Saw IV, if anyone wants to come with us," Kizuna said, latching herself to Remon's arm. The group looked around, and they shrugged.

"I-I think I'll pass..." Nagisa trembled, and Shizuma held her reassuringly.

"Come on, hun...It'll be fun...and I'll be there with you, don't worry..." Nagisa seemed reassured.

"Alright! Off to the movies!" Yaya said, the other girls echoed "Hai!", and they were off to the movies.


	7. Of Movies and Tension

Hello everyone! Welcome to "How to Fully Enjoy Summer Nights" Chapter 7! I'm thinking of changing the title to...something else, but I'm not sure yet. I might just chose to keep it this way, to make it easier for you regular reviewers, whom I do have to say brightens up my day. I know it took me too long to write chapter 7, but this was a very hard chapter to write, to say the least. I debated and debated and debated for about a week and a half how to end this chapter and how to start the next one. There has been a lot of editing and I hope I've lived up to my standard in this edition of my fan fiction. So enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Strawberry Panic. If I did, Yaya would become ambassador of Japan and make a virtual reality .hack game.

* * *

Chapter 7: Movies and Lovemaking

The girls took up three rows of seats once they settled in the movie theater. It wasn't crowded, seeing as they arrived about an hour early, which was enough time to enjoy themselves before the movie started up. Much to Tamao's dismay, she ended up sitting between Shizuma and Amane. Shizuma kept throwing her furtive glances, which she ignored...or at least tried to without flinching. She didn't dare sit her arm on the cup holder between them, for fear of touching Shizuma. Kaname and Momomi snagged a single two-seat cubicle, a few feet away from where everyone else was sitting. Tsubomi watched in slight amusement as Yaya and Hikari chased each other down the aisles.

Shizuma clapped her hands twice. "Hikari-chan, Yaya-chan! Enough! We're not children, you know!" she called. Hikari stopped in mid-turn around one of the seats, and Yaya stopped a bit too abruptly and fell over. Hikari went into a fit of giggles.

Tsubomi looked to Amane, who looked back. "Want to get food?" Amane asked. Tsubomi nodded and got up, following her to the snack bar.

"Should we ask them what food they want?" Tsubomi asked, smirking back at their lovers, who were laughing and tripping each other.

"...Nah, they're having too much fun. We'll get food without them."

"Good idea. Then we can have an excuse not to get them anything."

"When will they get food, then?"

"That's their problem, isn't it?" Tsubomi said coolly. "They shouldn't be so busy goofing off." Suddenly, she felt someone kick her foot from behind, and she glared over her shoulder. "Yaya-chan!"

"Thought you were leaving without us, huh?" Yaya said, smirking. "You know us better than that, Tsu-chan."

"I told you not to call me that in public..."

"Call you what, Tsu-chan?"

"STOP IT!" Tsubomi crossed her arms, her face red, glaring at Yaya.

Yaya smirked a bit. "Sorry."

Tsubomi rolled her eyes and smiled at her. "Sure you are."

"Of course I am. I'm the most trustworthy person in the world, didn't you know that?"

"My ass," Hikari said under her breath, earning her a punch on the arm.

"What about your ass?" Amane said, looking around interestedly, and Yaya snickered. Hikari's face turned a brilliant puce and she fell silent.

"Let's hurry up and get our food, I'm starving," Tsubomi said, latching herself onto Yaya's arm, to her amusement, and the four Spican students headed off to the snack bar. However, Yaya was less interested in snacks and more interested in the refrigerator full of sodas next to it, which contained Monster energy drinks. Tsubomi rolled her eyes.

"Oh no, no more Monsters for you, Yaya-chan."

"But Tsu-chan..."

"Calling me Tsu-chan is only going to piss me off, you know," Tsubomi said, grinning at Yaya, who frowned.

"But I like Monsters..."

"Oh believe me, I know," Tsubomi said, teasingly. They glared at each other, crossing their arms. Hikari watched them, her head turning from one to the other, and sighed.

"Tsubomi-chan, let her get the Monster." Tsubomi shook her head.

"Why should I?"

"Because...I am your Etoile, and you will do as I say."

There was a long, sickening pause.

"Hikari-chan, you're supposed to be my friend..." Tsubomi said, in a hurt voice.

"I'm the Etoile first, you know," Hikari said importantly.

"Yeah, but we're not at Astrea Hill."

"The title still stands."

There was another long pause, and Tsubomi sighed.

"Alright, then, Yaya-chan...get the Monster, but only one."

"One will be enough. Thanks, Hikari-chan," Yaya said, winking at her, and walked off to the fridge. She came back a few minutes later, happily sipping it as Tsubomi and Hikari glared at each other.

"Is that all you care about, your stupid job as Etoile? Prancing around and enforcing it every time you want something done?! 'I'm Hikari, I'm the Etoile, everyone loves me!'"

"I do NOT act like that all the time!" Hikari's expression was dangerous.

"No, I suppose you don't, only when it's convenient for you!"

"Look, I don't prance around, and I don't abuse my position! If anyone did that, it was Shizuma, and I'm nothing like her! So you better wise up, Tsubomi-chan, because you're not a child and your going to have to deal with people who have a higher social status than you whether you like it or not! And when you graduate, and you have nowhere to go, you'll be thinking 'Gee, I really should have listened to Hikari, I really shouldn't have been such a prat, because I knew that she was saying the right thing when she said that I need some god damn respect!'"

And with that, Hikari stomped off down the aisles to find the room they were in, completely forgetting to wait for Amane and abandoning the rest of them. Yaya looked stunned, she was staring at Tsubomi, who was shaking in rage, and looked to Amane, who had a completely dumbfounded look on her face.

"Let's get back, too," Amane said, and Yaya nodded. They walked behind Tsubomi, who was muttering to herself angrily. Hikari was sitting in her seat, her arms crossed, her eyes closed, mouthing some inaudible words to the ceiling. Tsubomi steered clear away from her, apparently they couldn't bear looking at each other.

"What's up with them?" Tamao asked as Amane sat next to her. Amane sighed and looked to her, handing Hikari her popcorn.

"This and that...to make a long story short, they had an argument."

"Hikari-chan and Tsubomi-chan? They always seem to get along so well together."

"That's what I thought. But I guess friends will have arguments now and then. They'll make up by the end of the night, surely."

By the time people started filing into the movie theater, everyone else in the group started realizing the feud between Tsubomi and Hikari, and kept asking what was wrong. But word didn't get around too quickly before the movie started. Tsubomi and Hikari were of course not sitting next to each other, and so they had Yaya sit between them. And they were both thankful that it was dark, so they wouldn't have to see each other.

About halfway into the movie, when it was just talking and silence following the talking, Yaya stood up and looked to Tsubomi.

"I have to go to the bathroom. Play nice," she whispered, kissing her cheek, and Tsubomi frowned at her.

"Yaya-chan..."

"Don't worry about it," Yaya whispered, winking, and she left. Tsubomi chanced a glance at Hikari. She was dangling her feet above the floor, not paying attention. Tsubomi looked at her until their eyes met, and Hikari leaned in on her.

"What?"

"Er..." There was an awkward silence. "Never mind."

"No, tell me."

"It's nothing..."

"Tsubomi-chan." Hikari crossed her arms, looking stunningly like an adult, if anything.

"Okay, fine...I...um...I wanted to apologize...for my misbehavior. I shouldn't have said...well...those things."

Hikari smiled at her. "Apology accepted, but watch your tongue next time, agreed?"

"Fine. And you watch yours."

"Agreed."

Little did they know that Amane and Tamao were watching them, smiling. "I told you, Tamao. They made up before the end of the night."

"Of course. Well, that's only because they're such good friends, right?"

"I guess."

Yaya came back a few minutes later, sat in her place between Hikari and Tsubomi, and looked to Tsubomi.

"You know what?" she said, a bit louder than a whisper so that the others around them could hear, "I think that Monster gave me bad gas."

There were a few stifled giggles, and Tsubomi sunk lower in her chair. "Oh, Yaya-chan..."

--

After the movie was over, and they bid goodbye to Remon and Kizuna(who were going out to dinner afterwords), the 11 of them walked back to the summer home to sleep. No one could doubt that the movie had been absolutely horrifying to some of the girls, mainly the younger ones. But people like Shizuma and Kaname were laughing at the stupidity of it.

"I mean, come on! The plot was totally unrealistic!" Kaname exclaimed indifferently, letting the frightened Momomi cling to her arm. "I mean, if there weren't so many "what the fuck?" moments in the movie, it would have been good, but..."

"I thought it was horrible," Shizuma said, nodding her approval and stroking Nagisa's hair, who was among the frightened. She was holding onto Nagisa's hand so firmly that it was starting to cramp, so she instinctively moved her hand around her waist. Tamao let out a scoffing noise, and Shizuma noticed, smirking.

"I'm sorry, do you want an arm around your waist, too?"

"I'll pass," Tamao said, turning paler than she already was. Shizuma smirked in satisfaction and returned her attention back to Nagisa.

"Watching Hikari's facial expressions was funny as hell, though," Yaya said, smirking. Hikari flushed and hugged Amane.

"I quite agree," Tsubomi said, who had her arm around Yaya's waist and was being held around her shoulders. "She screamed the loudest out of all of us."

"Out of all the people in the theater," Yaya said, nodding. Hikari flushed even more.

"Shut up! I was scared!" She crossed her arms and gave them her "adult" look. "At least I'M not still a virgin!"

Yaya and Tsubomi flushed. They were, of course, the only couple there who HADN'T made love...not that there was any real reason to except to satisfy their sinful pleasures. But it was still embarrassing to be near their friends, who'd had much more experience than them when it came to relationships.

And just then, Tamao's cell phone rang. She smiled and picked it up. "Hello? Oh, it's you, Shizuka..."

"It's Tamao's girlfriend," Nagisa whispered, smirking at Tamao, who took a swipe at her with her open hand.

"Yes, I'm coming back home tomorrow...what time? I don't know...probably somewhere around four in the afternoon, why?...Oh...well sure, I'd love to...does six sound okay? Alright. I'll see you back at home. Bye...er...love you too..."

Tamao hung up, looking sheepishly happy. "That was one of my friends back at home. We're planning to hang out when I get home tomorrow."

"Oh really? What does "hanging out" include?" Shizuma asked, smirking devilishly, and Tamao turned pale, as usual, and turned away from her. There was no more discussion on the matter.

--

It took a long while for sleep to come to the girls. A few couples were already in their rooms, it was sure apparent when someone would walk past their rooms in the hallways. Most of them, who were still aroused from the movie, were wandering aimlessly through the darkened house. That gave the older girls a very evil, but amazing, idea.

Amane and Yaya, unnoticed by everyone else, walked outside into the backyard with Kaname, Momomi and Tamao. They spoke in low voices so they wouldn't be overheard.

"Erm...anyways, like I was saying, we should pull a prank on the little snots," Yaya said, rubbing her hands together. "It's brilliant. And it's the perfect night to do it."

Momomi and Kaname were instantly intrigued. Amane, however, stayed on the logical side of things. "They'll be scared out of their wits. They're already traumatized by that horrible movie," she offered.

"Heh, I know that perfectly well," Yaya smirked. "But it'll teach them who's boss around here, ya got me?"

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Kaname said, nodding her approval. "I've been wanting to get that Tsubomi ever since Truth or Dare..."

"So here's the plan," Yaya continued. "We'll each have our own area of the house. It's the reason I've brought...these," she said, and pulled out a bag full of black clothing and masks. "We'll enter through the front door."

"But won't Shizuma and the others think we're robbers?" Momomi asked quizzically.

"I have that covered. Tamao will go back into the house and open the door for us when no one is around," Yaya said, as though she had thought all this out beforehand. "And then we'll go hide through the house."

"And then what?" Momomi asked, getting more and more exited.

"We're going to pants them when they're not looking, of course!" Yaya said, snickering. "It's brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!"

There was a slight pause. "You've been watching Emperor's New Groove a bit too much, haven't you, Yaya-chan?" Amane asked.

"Don't blame me, it's Tsubomi's fault. You should see her house, it's nothing BUT Disney. She has a toaster that sings 'It's A Small World" when toast comes out..."

"Enough with the Disney. Let's do this!"

"YEAH!"

They dressed into clothes, and Tamao took her position inside the house. Once Hikari and Tsubomi went off to wander up to the attic, she gave the others the signal and they entered the house.

"Alright, you know what to do. Move out!" Yaya said excitedly, and the girls all took their positions through the house. Yaya hid under the dining room table, Momomi hid in a dark corner of the living room, Kaname ducked under the kitchen counter, and Amane covered herself in a sheet and lay herself on the floor. A few minutes later, Tamao was walking through the room with Hikari, Tsubomi and Nagisa, and for some reason, all went in separate directions.

"Tamao, how come I get the feeling that someone is here watching us...?" Hikari asked in a small voice. Tsubomi gulped a bit and wandered off into the dining room.

"Y-yeah...it's kind of creepy..." And just as she said that, she passed the dining room table and a hand reached out and grabbed at her ankle.

"KYAAAAA!" she yelped, and jumped about a mile and a half into the air. Hikari, startled, took a few steps back and was grabbed around the waist by Amane from behind, and she proceeded to screaming too. Nagisa simply stood there, looking horrified.

"W-what?! What happened?!" Nagisa asked, and she backed into a wall against Momomi, who jumped out and growled, making Nagisa jump. Shizuma came downstairs moments later, staring around at the chaos that had become of the room.

"What the hell is going on here?! People are trying to sleep!" Shizuma said, irritated, and Nagisa ran into her arms out of habit.

Yaya got herself up from the ground, pulling her mask off and laughing. "Oh...man...that...was...HILARIOUS!" And she collapsed on the floor again, giggling uncontrollably. Tsubomi's face was flushed with anger, and Hikari was in a corner, pouting.

"It certainly was NOT!" Tsubomi said, throwing a shoe at Yaya's figure rolling on the ground, who sprang out of the way. "You guys nearly gave us all a heart attack, you jerks!"

"Hey, it was all in good fun!" Yaya said, frowning. "Jess, Tsu-chan, lighten up!"

"I most certainly will not lighten up! You need to stop being so immature! Honestly!" Tsubomi scoffed, and she stomped out of the room. Yaya rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Well, I guess the night's done, my merry men. Off to Camelot!" she exclaimed, and the other girls giggled and followed, tapping their feet against the ground and heading off to their respective rooms.

--

Kaname Kenjou was typing away furiously at her computer in her and Momomi's room, looking very concentrated. Momomi was slightly irritated and rolled on her side to face her back.

"Are you done?" she asked.

"No," Kaname said firmly. "I've still got to send these letters to the new Spican Student Council."

"If they can't figure out how to run things around there, then they don't deserve any help," Momomi uttered, stubbornly. "Honestly, what are we doing, giving them advice? We have long since graduated."

"I know," Kaname gritted through her teeth, still typing.

"Then why are you giving into their demands?" Momomi demanded.

"Because they obviously have no idea what they're doing. Shion said that we were the most brilliant student council there for a while. We've been top-notch since fourth year, don't you remember?"

Momomi smirked. "Of course I do. The glory days, I'll never forget them."

Kaname rolled her eyes. "I could do without some memories of "the glory days", thank you very much."

Momomi looked a bit confused at first, then giggled. "If you're talking about what happened in first year, I understand you perfectly. People just...had to get used to knowing you, that's all. You were a bit different, hun."

"I noticed that a while ago, thanks for the reminder that I was the school freak," Kaname said, rolling her eyes. Momomi walked over to her and lay her elbows on Kaname's shoulders.

"Are you still sulking about that? I mean, seriously, it was a long time ago. Most of those kids are probably over it by now, and they have no idea who you are anymore. You earned your respect."

"Of course I did," Kaname said, looking up at Momomi and grinning. "But I never would have if it weren't for you."

"Damn right, and don't you ever forget it," Momomi said smugly, kissing her and walking back to the bed. "Honestly, I thought you were such a cute first year."

Kaname was silent for a moment. "...Oh really?"

"Yes," Momomi said, smiling. "Want me to crank out the pictures?"

"No," Kaname said quickly, twitching. "I was so..._awkward-looking_."

"Oh, you were cute, though. I mean, once you stopped being so emo-ish and got some friends. Oh, when did you lose that innocence?"

"In third year when we first started dating," Kaname said, spinning around in her computer chair to look at Momomi, grinning. "That one night after the Star Festival, don't you remember?"

Momomi twittered nervously, avoiding Kaname's gaze. "...Maybe..."

"You _do_ remember," Kaname said, raising an eyebrow.

"...Yes, I do," Momomi said. "I mean, how could I forget that...particular outing?" She pouted and looked to the ground, slightly embarrassed.

Kaname got up from the computer, at last, and sat next to her girlfriend, a true, genuine smile on her face. "You know what? I love you."

"Oh, you do?" Momomi said sarcastically, raising her eyebrows. "I never got that memo."

"Really. You practically saved my life in school, over and over again. And I always took you for granted. I never appreciated it, because..."

"Because you were always trying to find yourself," Momomi said, looking up at her. "You were always trying to prove yourself in every way possible. To everyone. And you want to know something?"

Kaname blinked at her. "What?"

Momomi smiled and poked her nose. "You did, my lovely Kaname."

Kaname paused a bit, and smiled. "Come on, let's get to bed."

"Don't you have work to do?" Momomi said, looking over Kaname's shoulder at her full inbox of messages.

"Screw working, I can do that during the week. This is supposed to be a vacation, right?" Kaname said, and she walked over to the computer and turned it off, watching the Toshiba sign on her computer fade out, and listening to the revving of the computer go down to a soft hum. And Momomi watched her the whole time, examining the movements of the girl she knew so well, and smiled.

"Hey Kaname," she finally said, as the two settled down in their bed, Momomi clinging to Kaname as usual.

"Hm?"

"What do you think the future holds for us?"

Kaname blinked at her. She had never thought of anything like that before. She had always lived for now, for that moment, never thought ahead unless it was for something tactical or strategical. And Momomi was looking at her with that look, that one look that told her she had better be serious about this.

"Momomi, I really have no idea. Why are you so worried about the future, anyway?"

Momomi stared at her for a second, then shook her head and curled up next to her arm. "No reason...just wondering..."

Kaname rolled her eyes. "Goodnight," she whispered, but Momomi was already sleeping. She smiled inwardly; the girl was always quick to sleep. She supposed it was a contrast to herself, Kaname had always stayed up for hours at a time, thinking to herself. It was as though Momomi didn't have a single thought troubling her mind, a single bad thought in her soul. She was as innocent as innocent could get. And Kaname wouldn't have her any other way.


	8. A Double Date, Tamao's Departure

Hello, hello, hello again! Welcome to the 8th chapter of "How to Fully Enjoy Summer Nights"! I don't really have much to say except for the fact that people have stopped reviewing my stories, which makes me sad, but whatever. It gives the other people who do review a chance to see this story in all of it's glory(and I'm going to ignore the fact that I made a rhyme D). This will be the second to last full chapter of this series, so I am very exited!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Strawberry Panic, and I don't own IHOP, either! Or Harry Potter. I must warn you...spoilers for Harry Potter book 7 are included in this chapter, so if you haven't read it, don't read it...or if you don't care, go right ahead and read.

A/N: Sorry for the delay on Chapter 8. Writer's block hit me so hard it was like being shot out of a canon into the sky and not coming down for like...a week. And so I'm giving myself a deadline of a week and a half for my future works.

The "A-cup" comment is referring to Ichigo Mashimaro. It's an awesome series...you need to watch it.

* * *

Chapter 8: A Double Date?/Tamao's Departure

"Why did you put me up to this?"

It was early the next morning. It dawned bright and early, the sun already filtered into each of the bedrooms in Nagisa's summer home, and the temperature outside had already reached a good seventy-five degrees.

Much to Kaname's dismay, Momomi and Tsubomi had arranged a double-breakfast-date with their lovers. How the idea came up, Kaname would never know, but she was certain that she didn't want any part of it.

"Kaname, it'll be fun!" Momomi said, smiling cutely at her. Kaname crossed her arms stubbornly. Yaya was already awake and dressed, in a red t-shirt and short blue shorts, leaning against the wall near the doorway. "Besides, we never really did this before."

"We had one with Chikaru and Shion, remember?"

"We weren't dating then, remember?"

"Of course," Kaname said, eager to make up an excuse. "But we did date."

"Yes...two years later! Come on, stop being such a stick-in-the-mud!" Momomi pleaded, but Kaname refused to back down now, not when she already had such an edge.

"Momomi, we don't need to go on a date, we talk to each other all the time," Kaname said.

Yaya smirked a bit. "Are you saying that you're embarrassed of going on a simple date?"

Kaname looked dumbfounded. "I-what do you mea- I'm not embarrassed!" she spluttered.

"Oh, then you'll have no problem going with us, then?"

"No, I won't!" Kaname said, her arms still crossed.

"Well then it's settled," Momomi said, clapping her hands with an air of things being said and done. Kaname scowled at the two of them, and Yaya exited the room so Momomi and Kaname could get a minute or two alone before they left. She twiddled her fingers and walked back to her and Tsubomi's room. She was still sleeping, clutching the pillow and breathing softly, looking like the perfect little angel she always convinced people she was. Yaya smiled lightly and threw herself on the edge of the bed.

"Come on, sleepy head! Wake up!" she said loudly, shaking Tsubomi frantically. Tsubomi let out a noise that kind of sounded like "Nyeeh" and squirmed around so that her body was facing opposite Yaya's. Yaya smirked and looked around the room for her bag. She finally found it and pulled out a blow horn, wiping it clean with her shirt and pressing the button on top.

Tsubomi must have jumped up about three feet into the air. "IYAAAAA! What was that for?!"

Yaya smirked a bit, wrapping an arm around Tsubomi's middle. "Just because. Your expression was so cute!" Tsubomi pouted at her. A few seconds later, Kaname and Momomi, fully dressed, popped their heads in the room. Kaname took one look at the disheveled Tsubomi and laughed, disappearing to the living room. Tsubomi glared at Yaya, who returned a playful smile, and started to get dressed. After a few minutes, when everyone was situated, they all got into a small group in the hallway.

"So, where are we going on this...erm...date?" Kaname asked, not looking very interested, though asking the question for the sake of the glaring Momomi.

"We're going to IHOP. Nothing says "love" like buttered-up pancakes dripping in strawberry syrup," Yaya said, rubbing her hands together. Tsubomi made a face.

"That sounds disgusting...Let's go already."

They left the hallway. Kaname was unfortunate enough to have a run-in with Hikari, who was walking down the hallway back to her and Amane's room. Apparently she had just come from the bathroom. Kaname watched her for a second, then looked away and pushed her into the wall. Hikari staggered a bit, but she got hold of her balance and stood up straight.

"What was that for?!" she asked angrily. Kaname was a bit surprised. Usually, she would be cowering in fear.

Kaname simply shrugged. "You happened to be there. If it were Tsubomi, I'd do it then, too."

"If it was Shizuma, you wouldn't have," Hikari said, an eyebrow raised. Man, Kaname thought. She sure does pick things up from Amane quickly.

"Of course not. Because she's bigger than you, taller than you and would probably shank me in the face. Now run along to your precious Amane." Hikari and Kaname glared at each other for a minute, then Hikari stalked off, nudging Tsubomi in the side as she passed.

"Gosh, Kaname. You're so mean," Momomi said as they approached the door, opening it and letting the cool morning air rush past them. Kaname smirked a bit and dismissed the situation.

--

About a half an hour later, the four girls were getting themselves situated at a booth table near a window. As they waited for their food, Yaya messed around with a small, plastic display with different pictures of desserts on it, looking fascinated. Kaname looked exceptionally bored, and Momomi and Tsubomi were conversing about Harry Potter.

"I for one don't really care if shippers are still pairing up Harry and Hermione," Momomi was saying, trying to ignore Kaname's exasperated look. She had no interest in Harry Potter like they did, and found it annoying.

"I do! It's so annoying!" Tsubomi huffed. "I mean, the seventh book has already come out, and people are STILL pairing them up, even though they know that Ron and Hermione get married at the end! I mean, that was pretty much cannon for about five books, but still...you'd think that regular readers and fans would have a clue, you know? And on top of that, people are making such a big fuss about Ginny and Draco, which is SOOOO gross! Look, obviously Draco has a wife, considering his kid was going to Hogwarts at the end of book seven, and..."

"Tsu-chan...do us a favor and shut up," Yaya said, who had agreed with Kaname's outlook on Harry Potter, and had to admit that it was stupid. She was leaning against the leather seat and was sharing an earphone with Kaname, listening to some American Metal band called Metallica.

Tsubomi flushed, but otherwise ignored Yaya's comment, and continued on with her Harry Potter-induced rant. Kaname looked to Yaya, who looked back and sighed.

"I hate Harry Potter. It's so stupid."

"I agree. Who the hell goes to a school filled with crackpots to learn about magic spells? What the hell is a spell going to do to someone? 'Oh, look, I've pulled a rabbit out of a hat and now I'm going to be able to fight Lord Voldyshort!'" Kaname said in a childish voice, making Yaya giggle.

"It's VOL-DE-MORT!" Momomi and Tsubomi said together, fuming.

"Whatever, like it matters. People still know who I'm talking about," Kaname said, and Yaya nodded.

"Yeah, it's like calling that girl...um...what's her name? The one with the hair like a bush and shit."

"Hermione," Tsubomi said smartly.

"Yeah, her. It's like calling her Hermi-one, everyone knows who she is."

Being hardcore Harry Potter fan girls, Momomi and Tsubomi twitched at the miss-pronouncing of several Harry Potter characters, and decided to drone Kaname and Yaya's teasing out with their rantings. It was still a while before their food came, so Momomi and Tsubomi headed off around the restaurant to explore the interior of the building, while Kaname and Yaya listened to Kaname's iPod.

"Where did those girls go?" Kaname asked, playing around with the iPod and trying to find another song.

Yaya shrugged as she messed with the Boysenberry syrup bottle, letting a gob of the stuff pour onto her finger, and licking it off slowly. Tsubomi picked a bad time to come back to the table, she had appeared when Yaya had been in mid-lick. She flushed a heavy red and walked away again, leaving Yaya to look very confused. "What's her deal?"

Kaname smirked and shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing..."

Yaya shrugged, and about a half an hour later, pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, bacon and toast were being put in front of her. "Food!" Momomi and Tsubomi hurried back to the table as they were served their food, and were overcome by the vast array of aromas that now surrounded them.

"So, Momomi-chan, when did you and Kaname-san start dating?" Tsubomi asked, trying to exchange polite conversation. Kaname looked like she was going to throw up, her face was as pale as her plate.

"Well, we started dating during summer school in third year," Momomi said, scratching her head and looking slightly embarrassed. "I mean, if it wasn't for Shion and Chikaru..."

"If it wasn't for them being nosy pricks, you mean," Kaname offered, taking a sip of orange juice.

"Oh stuff it, they did us a favor, pushing us to actually talk to each other about it. Anyway, we were done playing at the beach with the rest of our friends..."

"YOUR friends, you mean," Kaname interrupted, but Momomi went on.

"...as I was saying, we were done with playing around, and we decided to stay and watch the ocean. That's when...well..."

"You two kissed?! Sugoi ne!" Yaya said excitedly, stealing one of Tsubomi's sausages when she wasn't paying attention. "It must have been really romantic!"

"Hai," Momomi said, flushed, though looking proud. "So, what was you and Yaya-chan's first like?"

Tsubomi flushed a bit, looking to Yaya as though asking permission to talk about it, and Yaya simply shrugged. "W-well...it started when Yaya-chan's family took me and her to Disney World."

"Disney World?!" Momomi and Kaname said together.

"Hai!" Yaya said, smiling broadly. "Tsubomi was in heaven for a week and a half."

Tsubomi smiled at her. Indeed, the "happiest place on earth" was big enough to keep her occupied for a week and a half. Well, that and being able to spend the whole time with Yaya in her presence, which made everything ten times as enjoyable. When they weren't on rides or getting autographs, they were either buying souvenirs, eating at local restaurants and exploring the whole of the theme park. They had taken a lot of pictures and even made a video, which Yaya's mother was still in the process of editing, and she hadn't let Yaya or Tsubomi see the video since.

"Yes. Yaya was completely scared of the Snow White ride."

"I was NOT! That was you who was scared!" Yaya said defensively.

"I was only acting scared so that you wouldn't feel left out," Tsubomi said matter-of-factly, grinning at her. "You did scream your guts out on Space Mountain, though."

"I was getting into the mood," Yaya said, crossing her arms. Tsubomi let out a laugh.

"Of course, like you were getting in the mood for the Haunted Mansion ride? Oh, we also went to Universal Studios, and they had the Tower of Terror, which we rode...of course. It wasn't that scary, though it did make me throw up most of what we ate at Shaggy and Scooby's Food Shack."

"I threw that up regardless," Yaya said. "I ate so much...gosh, I couldn't get enough of the chili dogs..."

"Even though your mother TOLD you to save it until dinner, but nooo...you just had to go and eat all five of those. It was horrible back in the hotel. About two hours of agony."

Yaya seemed to shiver at the memory. Indeed, it had been horrible, and she guessed the unpleasant smell of vomit and waste were still lingering off in the hotel room today. She smirked a bit and continued to eat her strawberry-covered pancakes.

--

While Momomi, Tsubomi, Kaname and Yaya were on their "date", the other girls spent their time roaming around the summer home, checking out various different rooms, cleaning up where they had been hanging out, and keeping each other occupied. Apparently, Shizuma and Tamao had come to a mutual agreement, which suited Nagisa just fine, because she was starting to get a bit fed up with their behavior toward each other. Now, Tamao seemed to be treated like Shizuma's plaything instead of a rival. She would touch, kick, shove and push her at the most random times, and all Tamao could do was scoff. Aside from the fact that Shizuma was much bigger, taller and stronger than Tamao, Nagisa would scold them, which was worse than a scolding from any teacher, to say the least. All in all, it was rather annoying. But Tamao put up with it, nonetheless. And maybe she and Shizuma would end up being friends one day. But for right then, it was just false hope.

Tamao and Nagisa passed Amane and Hikari's room. There was apparent silence, they were still sleeping...or so they thought. A closer listening in submitted the sound of kissing noises and the occasional moan or sigh. Tamao looked at Nagisa, who looked back, raising her eyebrow.

"Think we should leave them alone?" Nagisa asked, and Tamao nodded.

"I believe that's a good idea. Let's go." They were about to turn into the next room, which leaded to a few other rooms, until Shizuma started coming down the hallway toward them. She came to Amane and Hikari's room, remained silent for a few seconds, then looked to Tamao and Nagisa, smirking.

"What are they doing in there?" she asked quietly as they entered a dark, musty room.

"What do you think?" Nagisa said back, smirking and looking around for a light switch of some sort. Tamao leaned against the wall of the room, straining her eyes to look around in the dark. Shizuma started after her, but Nagisa cut her off unintentionally as she walked around aimlessly.

"Damn it, there's no light switch that I can see. Tamao, do you have a flashlight or something...?"

Tamao shook her head. "I don't, but I do have a mini key chain that lights up when you press it."

"Good enough," Nagisa said, looking relieved, and Tamao handed her the key chain. The small light bulb inside the key chain lit up as Nagisa applied the pressure to the rubber substance, and she looked around, this time without bumping into anything. "I still can't find a light switch...is there a window somewhere? Ah..." She traveled across the room and found a window that had been covered up by a large box-shaped object, and opened it so that clean air filtered through the room. They had never before quite appreciated clean air more than they did now.

"So, what do we plan to do as our Spican friends have their little "outing"?" Shizuma asked as she flicked Tamao's hair with the back of her hand as she wasn't paying attention.

Nagisa shrugged, sitting on top of a box and resting her chin on her palm, as though concentrating very hard on something. "Well...maybe we..." She suddenly looked outside...and an idea struck her. "We should have a water gun fight when the girls get back!"

Shizuma and Tamao looked to Nagisa, then to each other, a wide grin on their faces. "Let's do it!" they said in unison.

Nagisa nodded, grinning, and stood up. "Alright, then!" The three Miator students marched out of the basement room. Just then, Amane and Hikari stepped out of their room, looking slightly disheveled, but happy. They turned around as they heard the footsteps.

"Oh look, if it isn't the love triangle," Hikari said, smiling at them. They knew she was only teasing.

"So they are. Made a new clan, have you? Team Blockheads?" Amane asked, snickering.

Tamao, Shizuma and Nagisa looked at each other, then started giggling. "Team Blockheads? That's harsh! But...it has a nice tone to it, don't you think?" Nagisa asked, grinning.

Shizuma nodded. "I think I can live with it."

"Me too!" Tamao chimed in happily.

"Alright! Team Blockheads it is!" Nagisa said, punching a fist in the air.

"Yeah!" Tamao and Shizuma followed in suit. Hikari rolled her eyes at Amane and took her arm, leading her out of the hallway. The "Blockheads" clan grinned at each other and headed for the door.

"Where are you three going?" Amane asked, looking confused. Hikari looked confused as well.

"We're off to buy some balloons and water guns," Tamao said, grinning at them. "We'll see ya later!"

And the three of them exited the house. Hikari and Amane were now alone in the house, Chikaru and Shion having mysteriously vanished...again. But they supposed having some time alone would be good for them. Hikari smiled softly at Amane.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked curiously, titling her head to the side in a cute way. Amane almost melted at her gaze, but she tried to mask it with one of her charming smiles.

"I don't know...

"Want to continue what we started?"

"I think that would be a good idea."

They smiled at each other, locked their fingers together and walked down the hallway back to their room. Even though they knew the silence wouldn't last for long, they could always enjoy whatever time they had to spend together.

--

Later on in the afternoon, Tsubomi, Momomi, Kaname and Yaya headed back to Nagisa's summer home. They had eaten their hearts out at IHOP and were ready to settle down. But little did they know that "settling down" wasn't something that was scheduled for the day. They entered the door in high spirits, yelling through the summer home to anyone who would listen.

"WE'RE BAAAACK! And we brought leftovers!" Yaya yelled excitedly as she carried about five white Styrofoam boxes in her hands. Hikari and Amane appeared, greeting them all.

"Hello, Yaya-chan!" Hikari said, taking her friend in a loving embrace. It was a bit unexpected, but Yaya took her in her arms nonetheless. She could feel the piercing gazes of Tsubomi and Amane through the back of her head. Geez, am I even allowed to hug her anymore? Yaya asked herself, and she placed a hand gently on Tsubomi's head and smoothed out her hair gently to make sure that the idea wasn't brought up again.

"Hikari-chan," she said with a smile, a very un-Yaya-like smile. Then she noticed something and looked around the room. "Where are the others?"

"Chikaru and Shion are gone," Amane said casually. "The Blockhead Squad went to the store for something..."

"The Blockhead Squad?"

"That's what they're being refereed to as now," Hikari said, rolling her eyes. "Thanks to Amane."

"It's not my fault they agreed to it," Amane said, giving her an animated smile. They all laughed, and they went their separate ways throughout the house. Momomi and Kaname were out in the backyard, chatting. Tsubomi and Yaya were watching House of Mouse on Toon Disney, and Amane and Hikari were out in the front yard, waiting for the others to return.

Yaya watched as the little animated people ran around and did crazy, unrealistic things, and she shook her head. It didn't really make any sense to her. But Tsubomi seemed hooked to fictional characters and places like Neverland and Disney World. She seemed so innocent that way.

"Tsubomi-chan," Yaya said suddenly, turning to her as a commercial for Charmain toilet paper came on.

"Huh?"

"Why can't I ever enjoy things like cartoons?"

Tsubomi looked a bit confused at Yaya's question, but she answered it truthfully, like she always did. "Well, I think it's because you have a tighter grip on reality than most people. It's like you can appreciate the fact that there's non-fiction and there's reality, and there is a fine line between them."

"So...you're able to tell me that, and be able to sound correct...yet you still obsess over these weird cartoons and characters and fictional places?" Yaya said, still confused.

Tsubomi shrugged. "It's what I live for. Sometime I can't explain it. I make up excuses like 'Oh, I'm just bored' or 'There's nothing else good on TV', but I always know the real reason. Even though I'm very well educated, sometimes I need a break from it. Sometimes, people need a break from reality once in a while, to charge their brains and keep their creativity going. That's why I enjoy Disney things so much. It gives you that feeling of immortality...like you can do anything, or go anywhere, or be anything..."

Yaya nodded, watching Tsubomi intently. She just couldn't understand, and she probably never would. There were so many things to worry about, there was her life, there was Tsubomi, there was finding a place for them to live together, and there was convincing Tsubomi's parents that Yaya wasn't all bad. She had all of these problems, yet Tsubomi treated life in the best way possible. Yaya couldn't understand why she didn't feel the same way, and maybe that was what depressed her.

"Yaya-chan?" She heard Tsubomi's voice saying. Her yellowish-hazel eyes bored into her's, as though x-raying her, giving her a very serious look. Yaya leaned into her and kissed her.

"I'll be fine," she said softly, reassuringly. Tsubomi nodded and leaned on Yaya's shoulder, continuing to watch the lame commercials that no one ever payed attention to. Even though she hated watching commercials, it was always ten times better with Yaya at her side.

--

At about six in the evening, Tamao was already packed and waiting for her mother to take her home. It was sad (well at least to Nagisa) that Tamao had to leave early, but she really couldn't avoid it. She looked around at all her friends, who were in a big group at the door.

"Tamao-chan! Why do you have to leaaave?!" Nagisa wailed mournfully, grabbing onto Tamao's sleeve. Tamao giggled and gave her best friend a light pat on the shoulder in reassurance.

"Don't worry, we'll make plans over the rest of the summer, Nagisa. Us and...Shizuma, too," she suddenly added, as she looked over her shoulder and saw Shizuma coming toward them.

"To the Dork Brigade!" Tamao said, throwing a fist in the air, Nagisa and Shizuma followed in suit.

"To the Dork Brigade!"

Over by the door, Hikari and Amane exchanged a look. "Look at them, enjoying themselves. That was supposed to be an insult...right, Amane?"

Amane shrugged. "Not really. It depends on how you look at it, that's all. Yes, in my view, it was an insult. But apparently to them, it's not an insult at all. I wonder why..."

Hikari shrugged as well and continued to watch the newly-formed "Dork Brigade" exchanging emotional farewells.

"We shall meet again!" Tamao said, and Nagisa practically jumped into her arms. Shizuma twitched a bit and looked away.

"Yes! We absolutely HAVE to make plans, Tamao-chan!" Nagisa said giddily, and she walked over to Shizuma and wrapped her arms around her. "Don't you have something to say to Tamao-chan, too?"

"Of course I do," Shizuma said, but Tamao knew very well what Shizuma had in store for her. She and Tamao exchanged glares, and everything was silent for a moment. Then...

"A-cup."

"At least I don't have boobs the size of CHINA!"

"YOUR boobs aren't even as big as the C in China!"

Insults were being thrown back at each girl, one after another, with Nagisa right in the middle. Nagisa fumed for a bit, clenched a fist and growled heavily. This caused the two feuding women to stop their antics and look to the ground shamefully. Nagisa seemed to be satisfied with herself, then a red-and-blue striped Honda drove up to them.

"Well, Tamao, it looks like your ride is here," Shizuma said gloatingly, pressing the fact that she wouldn't be spending as much time with Nagisa over the summer as she would right into her face. Tamao rolled her eyes and smiled a bit.

"I hope you have a good summer, too," she said coolly, and she went to exchange hugs and handshakes amongst her other friends. As she walked to the car, she closed the door and waved at all of her friends, who waved back...well, most of them did. Kaname refused to lift her hand, even for the handshake, and Shizuma just gave her a glare that told her 'What are you waiting for? Don't you have somewhere to be?' But, that didn't phase her one little bit. Because the one she cared about most was the one whom was holding onto Shizuma and waving frantically, the one whom she loved, and the one whom she was destined to spend the rest of her life with.


	9. Fate Takes it's Toll

Hello again, my friends, and welcome to chapter 9 of "How to Fully Enjoy Summer Nights"! As you are aware, I have decided not to change the title so it would be easier for you readers to follow. I don't have much of an introduction this time, I don't want to give away anything in the chapter this time. I can tell you, though...many, many things happen and it will be the longest yet. Hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer:** It should be a given that I don't own Strawberry Panic. But I do own a lot of other things that probably don't matter to you all. However, if I DID own Strawberry Panic, Hikari would have taken an AK-47 and started shooting the hell out of Kaname, only to have hear jailbait butt PWNed. Oh, and Amane would get that sex change she needs.

**A/N:** I won't be done right after the last chapter. There is still the Epilogue. I know I didn't write a Prologue, I never really thought about it. Also, "Thoughts From the Author" will be out after the Epilogue is complete.

Chapter 9: Fate Takes It's Toll

The last day of the Astrea group's summer trip dawned bright-but-gloomy. It was one of those days where they didn't have any idea what they were supposed to do. Tsubomi and Hikari were staring transfixed at the TV, watching the LOGO channel. It was a sappy love Soap Opera, and they were engulfing themselves in it. Kaname rolled her eyes and looked to Momomi...who was watching too.

"Come on, stop crying over some stupid show. It's not painfully overwhelming, you know." However, Kaname's words of disgust did not reach the girls' ears where they were, and she rolled her eyes and left the couch.

"Bored?" Shizuma asked her as she wandered over to her and Nagisa, who were playing Clue.

"Painfully. If I have to watch another Soap, I'll...I'll..."

"Shizuma, you can't do that! That's cheating!" Nagisa wailed, trying to reset Shizuma's move. Shizuma only smirked and looked back to Kaname.

"You're welcome to play Clue with me and Nagisa, if you wish."

"Might as well...haven't got anything else to do."

And so Nagisa, Kaname and Shizuma continued playing Clue. The search for who killed Mr. Boddy was going nowhere after twenty minutes, seeing as Kaname and Shizuma kept messing around with the game pieces, leaving Nagisa very disgruntled.

"Excuse me! Can you two stop acting like little kids and get back to the game?" Nagisa asked sharply as Kaname and Shizuma threw cue cards at each other across the room.

Shizuma smirked at Nagisa and threw another card at Kaname, who growled. "Oh, lighten up, Nagisa-chan. Playing it all the way through is no fun!"

Nagisa crossed her arms, giving Shizuma her trademark raised-eyebrow-look. "I wish Tamao-chan was here. I bet she'd play the game the right way."

And that was the only thing that Shizuma needed to coax her into playing the game right. They spent the next hour and a half playing the game, and finally figured out who the murderer was.

"I KNEW it was Colonel Mustard!" Nagisa exclaimed, punching a fist in the air. "I win!"

"Obviously it was him," Kaname said, rolling her eyes. "He's the only one who's named after a food product."

That got a laugh out of Shizuma, and earned her a glare from Nagisa. "You two are so immature!"

Kaname and Shizuma shrugged at each other as Nagisa left the room in search of something to do, huffing. "What did we do?"

"No idea," Shizuma said, crossing her arms in thought. "We were only having fun...gosh."

"Some people don't know that people are always ancy when they're bored," Kaname said, and Shizuma nodded.

After a few hours, Yaya emerged from the hallway in her green striped pajamas, yawning and rubbing her forehead.

"Bed hair...damn I hate it..." she said groggily, shaking her head. She had never heard the summer home this quiet before, and wondered what everyone's deal was.

Well, she thought, it's time for Nanto Yaya to add some life into this trip. She smirked to herself and walked over to the three girls watching TV, and sat right on Tsubomi's lap.

Tsubomi blinked a bit at Yaya's sudden appearance, then smirked. "What a way to say "good morning"."

"Stuff it before I crank out the blowhorn," Yaya said, shoving Tsubomi's face into the couch, who let out a muffled "Hmmph." "So, what's our plan for today?"

"I have no idea..." Hikari said in a monotone voice, still staring at the TV.

"Me either," Momomi offered, in the same monotone voice. Yaya shook her head; she would never understand the wonders of daytime television for the life of her. She usually spent her time reading Sci-Fi books or spending time at the library. Tsubomi's antics during her school days at Astrea Hill had influenced her in the biggest way possible. Since she had been spending so much time at the library with Tsubomi, she found more time to study and that had evidently brought her grades up.

But, as she was reminded daily, Yaya had made an influence on Tsubomi's personality as well. She was no longer stuck-up and pompous(though she was to an extent), but now she was a bit more caring and loving towards others, and listened to what they had to say. She was also able to appreciate fun a lot more when she needed to. It was..as she had told Amane...a growing experience. Though that didn't stop them from being immature...not in the least bit.

"Yaya-chan..." Tsubomi's voice suddenly entered her ears.

"Hai?"

"You're suffocating me!"

"Oh...sorry about that," she said, and took her hand away from Tsubomi's face, watching her gasp for air. Yaya smiled a bit and watched the rest of the Soap with Tsubomi in her arms.

Oh yeah, she thought. This is the life.

--

Later on in the day, it was time for Tsubomi's first job interview...and she was as extatic as she was nervous. She kept twittering around as Yaya fixed her tie and collar with a calm expression on her face, trying to drone out all of Tsubomi's rantings.

"I mean, what if I don't get the job, what if they don't like me, what if they think I'm stupid, what if I mess up?" Tsubomi said frantically in one breath as she ran around their room, trying to situate herself. Yaya simply stood there, swinging around the car keys Shizuma had let her borrow.

"Oh please, Tsu-chan...don't get so wound up about it. Just tell them what they want to hear and wing through it, that's how I go my first job."

"And what was your first job?" Tsubomi asked as she stuck a pen into the front pocket of her vest.

"I was working at Mc.Donald's. And lemme tell you, discounts at Mc.Donald's and all the small-sized fries you can eat really take you places in college. Now..." She placed her hands on the younger girl's shoulders, trying to steady her. "Calm down, take a deep breath and drink some water. You'll do fine, I promise."

Tsubomi was able to steady her breathing within the next few minutes, and she looked a bit calmer. But Yaya could tell the girl was still a nervous wreck. Yaya decided to take a bottle of water with them, just in case, and they headed for the door. They were instantly hailed by Hikari and Amane, who were on the couch still watching the Soap.

"Tsubomi-chan! All dressed up and stuff, I see?" Amane said, smiling a bit. "I remember my first job interview. I breezed through the whole thing."

"See?!" Yaya exclaimed. "You're gonna be fine, Tsubomi-chan."

Tsubomi nodded a bit, smiling at her. She was indeed feeling a lot less self-concious. "Thanks, everyone. I-I'm sure I'll do...fine..." She twitched a bit as the thought of the job interview loomed closer.

"Do your best! Ganbatte kudasai!" Hikari said cherfully, patting Tsubomi on the shoulder. Tsubomi nodded at her and they high-fived, then she exied the house with Yaya at her side.

"You know what? I feel better," Tsubomi said as she sucked the water out of the top of her watter bottle as she sat next to Yaya in the car.

"That's good," Yaya said, having nothing better to say. She started up the car and drove out of the parking lot towards Best Buy. A few minutes later, Tsubomi was walking into the store with a smile on her face, waving back at Yaya, who smiled at her lover and waved back. Tsubomi never ceased to make her proud.

It was about an hour later when Tsubomi came back to the car, breathing heavily as she walked up to the driver's window. Yaya had fallen asleep while waiting for her to get back. Tsubomi sweat-dropped and poked Yaya in the side. This was, of course, amazingly ticklish to her and she squirmed awake.

"Whaaa? I was having a dream," she said, rubbing her eyes.

"Yaya-chan, I got the job," Tsubomi said, grinning widely. "I'm going to actually...earn money! For the first time ever!"

Yaya smiled at her sleepily. "Hey...that's great, Tsu-chan! And guess what...?"

Tsubomi blinked, obviously confued. "What?"

"You get to pay for everything now! Isn't that great?!"

That particular cheek earned Yaya a scowl, and she giggled as they drove back to the summer home.

--

"Okay," Kaname announced as the day wore on, and there was only about five hours left until they were due to leave the summer home. She was standing within a big circle of girls, many of whom were wondering what they were doing in a big circle. "I have something to say...There is absolutely NOTHING to do!"

"I think we've been aware of that for quite some time now, Kaname-san," Hikari said through a smirk.

"...Anyway, I propose that we do something. You know, to kick off the summer. What do you think?"

"I think it's a good idea!" Momomi piped up, for the sake of her lover. "We need to plan some extra-cirricular activities to do while we still have time left..."

At the word "extra-cirricular activities", Kaname sweat-dropped and Yaya could be heard snickering.

Momomi looked confused. "What? What's so funny?" Kaname shook her head.

"Anyways..." Kaname continued, ignorning Yaya's fit of giggles. "We should get ideas of what we're going to do."

"Beach?" Nagisa suggested.

"Hey, that sounds like a good idea. Massage oil, sunscreen, wet swimsuits..." Yaya said, smirking at Tsubomi, who rolled her eyes.

"How about we settle for something simple? We haven't got much time left," Tsubomi said.

"Good point there," Kaname said, probably the first compliment she had given to someone other than Momomi. "I can't believe I just said that, but whatever. Hm...we..."

"We could stay at home and watch TV!" Hikari offered.

"NO. We've done that for a few hours already. We need to do something that won't rot out our brains after two hours."

The whole group went silent. "We have to call up Kizuna and Remon. They've always got stuff we can do."

And so they did. And after a half an hour, Kizuna and Remon showed up at the door, arm and arm as usual, smiling deviously.

"Okay, who do we need to tail this time?" Kizuna said, and Remon hurriedly took out a pad of paper and a pencil.

Nagisa smiled at the two girls. "We don't need to tail anyone. We just need to you two to...um...tell us what we can do for the rest of our trip, because we're bored."

"Well, you can always go rafting..." Kizuna said thoughtfully.

"Or canoeing," Remon piped in.

"That's the same thing!"

"...No it's not. Rafting is with a raft...canoeing is with a canoe."

"What's the difference?" Kizuna asked, looking irritated.

"A canoe is a boat-looking thing, and a raft is flat and made of wood."

"You could go to the park or the beach," Kizuna said, continuing what she was saying and ignorning Remon's "smart-ass" comments.

"Or you could go to a resturant..."

"Or you could go to Six Flags or Waterworld..."

"Thanks, guys!" Nagisa said, smiling at them, then she turned to the group. "So...what do you think?"

"The beach sounds nice," Momomi said, looking to Kaname for approval. She blinked at her and nodded curtly.

"So it's the beach!" Nagisa said, clappning her hands together. A chorus of cheers sounded.

"Me and Kizuna will go get Kagome-chan," Remon said, and they left. Shizuma blinked at them and got out her cellphone.

"Who are you calling, Shizuma?" Nagisa asked as she latched herself to Shizuma's arm. Shizuma smiled at her and pressed a number on speed dial.

"A certain best friend of mine who totally needs to get out of her house for a change."

--

At the beach, everyone started setting up for their small picnic. They set out blankets and huge umbrellas, and of course, no trip to the beach was complete without hot dogs and hamburgers. Yaya refused to change into her bathing suit in front of everyone, wanting to surprise them. Tsubomi complained by telling her she'd seen it already, and Yaya only smirked.

"You haven't seen me actually wear it, have you?" she asked slyly, winking at Tsubomi. Tsubomi pouted and shook her head.

"Then quit whining and being a baby about it," she said, rubbing Tsubomi's head gently, and went off to the nearest changing facility. Under a beach umbrella, Nagisa and Shizuma were conversing about Miyuki, who was due to show up in another half an hour.

"Miyuki-sama seems such happier now that she doesn't have to go through that horrible arranged marriage," Nagisa said thoughtfully, smiling. She recalled the day she had found out. Miyuki was practically in tears over the phone when she had talked to both Shizuma and Nagisa over the phone, they had been having a three-way conversation on the phone...even though Shizuma and Nagisa happned to be in the same house, not technically in the same area of the house. But having a three-way conversation with Miyuki without having to share a phone seemed like the smart thing to do at the time.

"True, she is a bit happier now that she's a free, single, lesbian woman," Shizuma said, smirking a bit as she squirted out another blob of sunscreen and applying it to Nagisa's skin. "The problem is finding someone for her..."

Nagisa crossed her arms, thinking. "...You're right. Everyone in our little group is all paired up. Except for Tamao-chan..."

And suddenly, like a huge truck had just hit her, Nagisa's face broke into a wide smile. Shizuma shook her head and bonked Nagisa on the top of the head with the bottle of sunscreen.

"I know what you're thinking, and you can forget it. Miyuki's not going to be interested in a younger girl, no way," Shizuma said firmly. "I know Miyuki very well, and she's not the dominate type that you think she would be, not in the least bit."

"Could have fooled me," Nagisa said, rolling her eyes. "She talks tough enough."

"That's my Miyuki," Shizuma said, smiling proudly and waving towards the parking area. Miyuki appeared in a t-shirt and shorts, followed by a stylish beach bag that carried her belongings.

"Konnichiwa," she said formally to her two friends, and sat down next to Shizuma. She looked a bit more mature than she usually did, her hair was starting to grow out and it was more teal than navy now.

"Konnichiwa, Miyuki-sama!" Nagisa said brightly, as though her and Shizuma had never been talking about her. "Have you had a nice summer so far?"

"Pleasantly quiet," Miyuki replied in her "professional" voice, and she lay on the blanket, closing her eyes. "Though...I am partly glad that Shizuma's forced me to spend a day out in the sun."

"Forced you?" Shizuma asked with a raised eyebrow. "You came here on your own accord. It wasn't as though I'd kidnap you from your own house..." Though Shizuma's eyes glinted evily at the thought. She probably would have. A few minutes later, Nagisa looked over to the changing stall, and her mouth dropped open.

"Shizuma..." she said, and she tugged on Shizuma's bikini top. Shizuma turned her head to the stall, blinked for a minute, and let out a cat-call whistle. Yaya had just exited the changing stall in her red-and-black bikini with a grin on her face, and was heading to where Hikari, Tsubomi, Kizuna, Remon and Kagome were. Shion and Chikaru miraculously met up with them as soon as Yaya came out of the stall, and Chikaru pointed while Shion stared in disbelif. There was no denying it: Yaya looked exceptionally hot. One look at Tsubomi's face told everyone that "It's Getting Hot in Here" was looping again and again in her mind.

"Oh my god," Shizuma said, smirking. "Now, if I didn't have Nagisa and Yaya didn't have Tsubomi, I'd totally bang her."

"Of course you would, you almost totally banged everyone before we met," Nagisa said to Shizuma, smirking. Shizuma gave her a sideways glance and wrestled her down onto the beach blanket. Miyuki rolled her eyes and smirked at them.

"If you two would stop 'wrestling', I've got some important news," she said professionally, and Nagisa stopped with Shizuma's hand on her face. Shizuma stopped as well, not taking her hand away, causing Nagisa to squirm a bit.

"What is it? You haven't found a lover, have you?" Shizuma asked, looking midly interested.

"No," Miyuki said, giving her a look. "No, it's not me. It's your little friend Chiyo-chan."

"Chiyo-chan?!" Nagisa and Shizuma both said in unison.

Miyuki nodded. "Hai. And do you know who?"

They shook their heads.

"Kagome-chan."

"Kagome-chan?!"

"Hai."

Shizuma and Nagisa looked at Miyuki, then looked at each other, then looked over to Kagome. She did seem a bit happier than usual, she was actually smiling instead of giving everyone that creepy blank look, and she kept looking at her cellphone. For some reason, Shizuma and Nagisa also noticed that she wasn't carrying the infamous Oshibaru with her.

"What happened to Oshibaru-san?" Nagisa asked Miyuki curiously.

"Chiyo-chan will be taking care of him while Kagome is here today," Miyuki said, smiling at the two girls. "They're so cute together, it's amazing how these girls have changed in the past three years."

"I know," Shizuma sighed. "It's almost unbearable to think about. Remember when we were in second year, and Momomi and Kaname were so short?"

"Of course!" Miyuki said, smiling. "The good ol' days. Kaname always had a sad look on her face. I wonder why...?"

"Her childhood wasn't too happy," Shizuma said sadly, as she watched the now older Kaname trying to coax Momomi into the water with her. "Her mother died that year."

Miyuki shook her head. "Sad. And you know, she seemed a bit more depressed after she first met Momomi."

"Oh, that's because they didn't get to know each other right away. Hated each other, the two of them. Withered in each others' presence. But for some reason, they ended up spending more and more time with each other, and from what Chikaru and Shion both told me..."

"Those two were able to hook them up," Miyuki finished, rolling her eyes. "Sometimes I wonder where Kizuna and Remon got their devious attitudes from..."

And as though that thought floated through the air, both Kizuna and Remon bolted past them and jumped into the water, splashing every nearby person. Kizuna spit water out of her mouth at Remon, who pouted at her.

"Kizuna, that's gross!" she cried, dunking underwater and washing it off. Kizuna rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on, it's the same water we're swimming in right now." She suddenly looked over to the other younger girls and waved. "Hey, guys! Come into the water!"

Kagome looked to Tsubomi and nodded, running off after them. Tsubomi heasitated a bit, then waved at her. "I'll be there in a second!" She ran off to the two diving boards. Hikari stood poised at the top, getting ready to jump...but backing out at the last minute because it was "too high."

"Oh, come on, Hikari!" Yaya was saying, pouting and looking irritated. "Just jump down and you'll be done with it!" Hikari refused to move an inch.

"Hikari, don't make me come up there!"

More silence and a bit of whimpering.

"Hikari!"

"But Yaya-chan! It's too high!" Yaya rolled her eyes and climbed up about five stairs, ran across the diving board and pushed Hikari into the water. She watched her completely nose-dive into the water and giggled when she came up, looking shocked and disheveled.

"YAYA-CHAN!"

Yaya was too busy giggling to notice the other person pushing her in after Hikari. A particularly pink-haired person, who leaned against the safety bars and smirked. Yaya glared up at her and spit water out of her mouth.

"TSUBOMI-CHAN!"

"Hai?" she asked, still with that smirk on her face.

"You can forget us ever having sex!" she called, and Tsubomi's face flushed heavily.

"Yaya-chan! That's not fair!"

"It is from down here," Yaya said, smirking a bit. "Oh, Tsubomi-chan! Watch out behind..." But she was too late. Another person bolted down the diving board and pushed Tsubomi off the edge, practically making her fall on top of Hikari. They looked up and noticed Kaname now standing there, looking very superior and tall, smirking down at them.

"Look, the kiddies are all wet now!" she said in a mocking voice. She felt another set of legs rushing at her and she planted her feet, so she wouldn't be pushed in as well. She turned around to see Momomi, who was determinedly pushing Kaname in the side, smiling.

Kaname's eyes narrowed. "Now, you really think I'm letting you push me off?"

"You will eventually," Momomi said sweetly, and that continued in a ferocious battle on top of the diving board. The other girls were having fun chanting and picking sides as the younger ones joined them. Miyuki, Shizuma and Nagisa were the only ones not in the water now, along with Chikaru, Shion and Amane(whom really had no desire to be there at the beach). They all shared a blanket and watched as their friends enjoyed watching the battle. It took about ten whole minutes before Momomi finally slipped on some water and fell, though grabbing onto Kaname's wrist and also bringing her down. The other girls cheered heartily at the "Super-Epic Win", as Kizuna called it. They spent the rest of their time at the beach eating and going for swims, but also to have time to chat with their lovers. Miyuki, after being forced into the water and feeling completely put out because of all the couples everywhere, left early while everyone journyed back to the summer home.

--

The trip to the beach had been tiring enough, but as soon as everyone entered the summer home, it was time to start packing. And it was very tedious, as well. Some things had been scattered all over the summer home for the past few days, such as an assortment of books, which mostly included Tsubomi's Disney books or Harry Potter theory novels, VHS tapes, pens and pencils, notebooks and laptops. After an agonizing forty-five mintues of searching, they finally got the summer home looking fresh and clean, the rooms spotless and their bags packed.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Nagisa called. A chorus of "Hai!" followed, and everyone said good bye to their short-lived paradise.

--

The trip back to Nagisa and Shizuma's house was uneventful, except for the many make-out sessions(mostly supplied by Kaname and Momomi), movie watching and moments of complete silence...only broken by one of Yaya's famous outbursts which got every girl in the car laughing, even Kaname.

"Oh, Yaya-chan, you're so embarrassing..." Tsubomi said, rolling her eyes as she and Hikari sat between Amane and Yaya, playing Harry Potter "Scene It?" and eating a family-sized back of Doritos, which was passed among the whole of the group about an hour previous, which left Hikari and Tsubomi with half the bag...which was still a conseriderable amount. "And Hikari, that's way wrong. Wingardium Leviosa was first used in Book 1, not in Book 5. And Hermione's cat's name is Crookshanks, not Scabbers."

"Oh, Yaya-chan, you're _soooo_ embarrasing!" Yaya mimiked, smirking at her girlfriend, who glared at her.

"Stop copying me!"

"Stop _copying_ me!"

"Yaya-chan, I'm trying to concentrate!"

"Yaya-_chan_, I'm _trying_ to concentrate!"

Tsubomi gave her another glare and rolled her eyes, looking back to the laptop screen. "Sometimes you're just so...unbelievable!"

"At least I don't obsess over characters that aren't REAL!" Yaya shot back.

"Well at least I don't laugh my stupid head off each time I'm watching _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_!"

"Hey, that movie is funny!" Yaya defended. "And besides, it isn't as worse as being on your fifth time reading Harry Potter 7, which came out a week ago!"

Sparks flew between the girls like a thundering storm, shrouding the entire of the car and scaring them all into silence again. They stared at each other for a few seconds, then Yaya burst out laughing.

"Oh MAN, you should have seen your face, Tsubomi-chan! Priceless!" As Yaya laughed her butt off, Tsubomi was glowering at her with a look of utmost irritance and impotence.

"Honestly! Why don't you just _grow up_?!" These words wouldn't impact Yaya in the slightest for another few hours, since she was so used to Tsubomi calling her immature. However, there was more silence than talking bewteen the two for the rest of the trip. Hikari did her best to get them to talk to each other a bit more, but her efforts seemingly went down the drain...however, even though they didn't speak, Tsubomi still lay on Yaya's arm while she stroked her hair gently. Hikari smiled a bit, _Those two really care about each other_, she thought. Hikari watched as Amane plugged in Guitar Hero to the PS2, which was hooked up to one of the built-in televisions in the back of the driver's seats.

"Amane, you don't know how to play that game," Hikari said, raising an eyebrow and questioning her girlfriend's memory. Amane waved the comment off like a fly.

"Honestly, what could be so hard about hitting a little plastic thing to get the colored notes?"

Hikari paused for a minute. "...You strum to get the notes and chords, and you have to hold some fret buttons down to keep the chords going, and sometimes you have to use the whammy bar to make the chords have an echo to it."

Amane simply stared at her, seemingly lost for words, and Hikari sighed and gave up. "Oh fine, don't listen to me and learn the proper way. Go ahead and bull shit the whole thing, see if I care."

And Amane did just that...to Hikari's dismay. She taught herself how to play the Easy mode in the space of about twenty minutes. It simply made Hikari livid and turn green with envy. She had to practice for a whole week until she could get the hang of Medium mode. Well, she supposed that Amane was good with a lot of things...but sometimes it just didn't seem fair to her. Amane simply had to do it once and be good at it...others, like her and Yaya and Tsubomi, had to push themselves to the limit to be able to excell and work harder. Of course, not all of them were born with massive, paycheck-earning families. She decided not to worry about it and leaned on her lover's shoulder while she practically burned her fingers off in Guitar Hero. However...it was something that she worried about. What if she decided that she liked her sports and things more than she loved her? Would she stop seeing her, thinking that she would be "just a distraction"?

No...she told herself, mentally slapping herself in the face. "Amane would never think of me like that...would she?"

"Amane?"

"Hai?" Amane looked over at her, gazing into her eyes. Hikari seemed slightly lost for a minute, gazing back at her, their faces seeming to attract to each other like magnets...then Hikari pulled back.

"I wanted to ask you something..." She gulped a bit, looking at her knees.

"I'm listening."

"...Has there ever been a time...when you thought of your games and sports and stuff more than me?" she asked softly. "You know, like your horesback riding that you still carried on with after you graduated, and had to leave for two months for reigonals and practicing?"

Amane gave her a look. And it wasn't just any look, it was a look of pure blankness, a look that Hikari couldn't read. She couldn't tell if she was upset, angry, happy, exited...she couldn't even tell if she wasn't feeling anything at all. She then sighed and put the plastic guitar down, taking Hikari's shoulders gently.

"Hikari...how can you think I'd do such a thing? There has never been a time...after we've been dating...that I've ever thought of anything more than you. You've been at the forefront of my mind ever since, do you understand? Nothing...and I repeat, nothing...is more important to me. Do you understand?"

Amane's words made the biggest impact they could. Hikari sobbed heavily and hugged her tightly, Amane's words of comfort never entering her ears. She was now too deep in thought to even fathom the ability to listen or move her body. The only thing she knew...the only thing that filled her mind and body and soul...was the love for the girl she was holding onto, and would forever hold onto. And that was a promise.

--

As the small mob of girls made one last trip to Mc. Donald's and drove up to Nagisa's home an hour later, everyone exchanged their mournful good bye's. Girls were hugging each other, crying, begging others not to leave them. The most impacted couple, however, was Yaya and Tsubomi, who didn't live anywhere near each other and who's families did not get along in the slightest. They probably wouldn't see each other for the rest of the summer...or as Tsubomi saw it, the rest of their lives.

"Tsu-chan, it's not that serious..." Yaya cooed while holding the small, pink-haired girl while she constantly cried into her shoulder.

"B-b-but Yaya-chan! It IS that serious! We never get to spend any time together! And if we do, we have to make up the lamest excuses! Do you know how many times Hikari has had to cover for me so we can _ATTEMPT_ to see each other?! How many times have we _actually_ seen each other since you graduated?! Three? Four?"

Yaya examined Tsubomi's face. Her expression was unfathomable, her eyes were red and puffy, and her crossed arms completely finished the look of utter disgust, depression and defeat. They gazed into each other's eyes for a minute or two, then Tsubomi huffed and walked away. Yaya sighed and sat silently on the curb of the sidewalk, waiting for her father. Hikari came over to her and lightly patted her best friend's shoulder.

"Hey, Yaya-chan...are you going to be okay?" she asked, looking at her with that melting, concerned look. Yaya looked at her with a grave expression on her face, turning away again. She hated Hikari having to see her and Tsubomi acting this way towards each other. She could feel the eyes of the other girls piercing her back and the back of her forehead, she heard a few people whispering, a few of them went to try to comfort Tsubomi, who was pacing and huffing and waiting impatiently for her parents.

"...I'm going to be fine," she said, though the tone in her voice made her words lose meaning. The hollow, saddened tone that made Hikari's heart shrivel up. "We just need our space, I guess."

"Space, Yaya-chan? I think you two need quite the opposite," Hikari offered, raising an eyebrow. "You need to spend more time together, or it's going to tear you two apart. Do you know how many times me and Amane see each other? I see her at least once a week."

"Good for you," Yaya said indifferently, lowering her head to her knees. Kaname soon joined the two girls, sitting next to Yaya.

"What's going on with you two, anyway?" Kaname asked, her expression serious. Yaya's head suddenly shot up at her voice, and she watched her. Kaname hadn't ever been so direct with her. In fact, she wasn't that direct with anyone except Momomi or Shion. Maybe, just maybe...they were becoming real friends. But she wasn't going to get her hopes up.

"We're just having one of frustrating couple moments, that's all. It'll pass over soon," Yaya said reassuringly, thought not all convinced herself. Hikari and Kaname actually exchanged concnerned looks, and waited for their parents with Yaya. As Yaya's father came up to the house, smiling and waving as usual, Yaya stood up, gathered her things and started to walk over to the car with Kaname and Hikari.

"Hello, dad," Yaya said, trying to smile for the sake of him. She always made sure that her father never saw her down and depressed. He always tried so hard to make her happy.

"Hey! Did you have fun?..." But then he noticed Tsubomi, and his brow furrowed. "What's wrong with Tsubomi?"

"Oh, she's just having a few problems. That 'time of month', you know," Yaya said, smiling a bit. Even her father could see through her empty smiles like no one else could(besides Tsubomi). But if he could see that she was depressed, he didn't say anything about it."

"I see, well let's get goi-oh, hello there, Tsubomi-chan," he said, and Yaya turned her head. There she was, standing right next to her. Tsubomi apparently was calmed down, but her facial expression was still cold.

"Konnichiwa, Nanto-san," she said politely, bowing. "I see you got your car refurbished?"

"Oh yeah, me and Yaya fixed it up real good before summer break started. You should see this girl under a car, she's a madwoman!" he said, laughing. Yaya smirked a bit at Tsubomi. She didn't like the fact that Yaya was into such boyish things like Football and cars and video games. "Anyways, are you coming down with the family to Six Flags later this summer, Tsubomi-chan? Season-long tickets! Even this girl's mother is going!" he said, patting Yaya on the shoulder.

Tsubomi gave Yaya a look, which she returned. "I'll have to ask my father about that, Nanto-san. It has been nice talking to you," she said formally, and Mr. Nanto waved her off. Tsubomi gave Yaya a long, sickening glare and all of a sudden hugged her. Yaya was taken off guard, but hugged her back happily.

"I'm only hugging you so we can say we've done something when saying good bye to each other," Tsubomi muttered under her breath, as to not be overheard. Yaya's father was too busy talking to Hikari and Kaname.

"Really?" Yaya said, raising an eyebrow. "Thought you were just going to run off without saying good bye, did you?" Tsubomi smiled a bit and continued to hug her until Yaya's father honked the horn at them, causing them to scatter away from each other.

"Hey! Romeo and Juliet! Hurry up, we haven't got all day!" he called. Yaya and Tsubomi gave each other a flushed good bye, and Yaya entered her father's car, waving at each other. She saw that, in the course of her waving, Tsubomi was also being picked up by her pompous, rich, protective parents in their yellow-tinted Mustang convertible. Yaya didn't spare them a glance as they drove past quickly, but as expected, her pocket vibrated a second later. She took out her cellphone and found the highlighted message:

_"My parents really suck."_

Yaya smirked a bit and messaged her back:

_"Well, at least one of them do, not sure about your mother."_

She smirked a bit and placed the phone back in her pocket. She didn't get a reply back.

--

As everyone left, and the only ones who were still there were Nagisa, Shizuma and Miyuki, they all entered the new "Hanazono/Aoi" residence together, and sat down at the couch and sighed simultaneously.

"Finally...peace and quiet!" Shizuma said while Nagisa gently lay in her lap. She stroked her red hair gently, looking to Miyuki, who wached them wistfully.

"I thought it was a good thing for us to be able to see everyone again! Because you know, we're not going to be able to be all together like that after I graduate," Nagisa said thoughtfully, and a bit dissapointed. "I'm so glad Yaya-chan graduated early, with her grades being so good. Who thought she could pull through that?"

"I did. I always know smart people when I see them. Like you, my darling Nagisa-chan..." Shizuma said, looking down at her love. They smiled at each other and started kissing furiously, while Miyuki watched with her head tilted. After a few minutes, they pulled away from each other and looked to Miyuki.

"You know, if you were thinking, we actually noticed that you were still here, which is why we conitinued," Shizuma said slyly, smirking at her best friend, who glared back.

"Oh, that's funny! Very witty!" she said sarcastically, throwing a pillow at her. "Honestly, I can't imagine being in this house and not having to hear you two knocking boots."

Shizuma gave a short laugh and went to wrestle Miyuki to the couch as Nagisa blushed. It was true, however. Maybe she and Shizuma were a bit too...sexually active. Honestly, there didn't go one day without them making out, or touching each other, or...it could just go on and on. But wasn't that what couples were supposed to do? Maybe she was taking this in the wrong way, but she still wondered...what shaped her and Shizuma's relationship? Love? Trust? Lust? Jealousy? Pride? There were still so many questions that she needed answered...and would probably never get answered. As she pondered these things, she watched as Miyuki took her cellphone and talked to her parents, who were outside, and waved at her like she was supposed to, not really seeing or hearing anything. Nagisa watched as she left the house, closing the door, and took the oppritunity to ask...even though Shizuma was on top of her and undoing her shirt within five minutes.

"S-Shizuma! Wait on a second!" she said frantically, blushing. Shizuma smiled and nodded, though still ontop of her.

"Alright, Nagisa-chan. What's on your mind?"

"Who said anything was on my mind?" Nagisa asked, side-stepping the question and looking away. Shizuma knew that better, though. She pinned her arms to the couch and stared deep into her eyes.

"Nagisa...you do know that you're going to have to tell me...eventually. Or shall I just force you to tell me instead...?" she asked, and Nagisa didn't have any time to argue. Shizuma covered her mouth with one hand and gently, softly caressed her body with the other, her soft skin fanning over Nagisa's, making her shiver. Her face turned red, either from lack of air or the touching, she couldn't really tell. After a few seconds, when Shizuma's hand casually slipped down Nagisa's shorts, she squirmed a bit and let out a muffled,

"Okay, okay! I'll tell you!" Shizuma took her hand off of her face and smiled

"I told you."

Nagisa glared a bit and sighed. "I was thinking about...us. Our relationship. What...what keeps it going, Shizuma? I never understood it...I never understood how me and Tamao could never be together, how Yaya and Tsubomi still continue to love each other even though they fight, how can..."

But her words were lost as Shizuma gently took her chin in her gentle, long fingers. "Nagisa, there's nothing really specific that keeps a relationship going. Sure, it's trust and care and responsibility...but nothing nurtures a relationship more than interaction...and love."

Nagisa smiled and leaned into Shizuma's arms. "That's it?"

"Maybe a bit of responsibility here and there," Shizuma added as an afterthought. Nagisa giggled lightly and jumped on top of Shizuma, quickly closing the curtains.

They were going to be having a long night.


	10. Epilogue

Welcome to the Epilogue. Yes, yes. Nothing much to say here. This is the part that shows what happened after a story ends. Yes, yes. I have nothing else to say. Oh, there's quite a time jump here...hope you don't mind. I thought we should hurry up and let Tamao and Nagisa graduate. So this takes place almost a year after the trip.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Strawberry Panic, or...I dunno, Tsubomi would own Walt Disney.

**A/N:** Big shout-out to one of my favorite SP authors, yurianimeotaku, who provides wonderful feedback and ideas. I'm. And to Useful Oxymoron, the only reason why I'm writing SP fanfics. Or else I'd be stuck writing crappy Yu-Gi-Oh fan fics .

* * *

_**Epilogue**_

Kaname Kenjou was in a dilemma. A very big dilemma. It was getting to the point where she didn't know what she could do anymore, she didn't have quite enough experience to be able to solve her problem. After the trip to Nagisa's summer home, her and Momomi had been spending so much more time together. It was almost as though they were a full-fledged couple. And that's where the problem came from.

It was a partly-cloudy Monday morning, with the sun going into with drawl every fifteen minutes or so. Signs of budding rain were obviously apparent. Kaname slipped on her black leather jacket and boots, and trugged off through many puddles of rain toward Shion's residence. She needed professional help.

When she finally got up to the door, Chikaru answered it. "Oh, Kaname. Come on in."

A few minutes later, Kaname found herself being stared down by Chikaru and Shion, who were supposedly living with each other for the time being. "So," Shion started, crossing her arms and legs and closing her eyes. "What brings you to this neck of the woods, Kaname-san?"

Kaname sighed, narrowing her eyes at them. They were really going to make sure she told her the whole story. "Well..." she started, closing her eyes and sighing. "It's about me and Momomi."

"Naturally," Chikaru said, nodding her approval of the situation. "And what about you and Momomi? Did you two have a fight or something?"

"Far from it. I wish it were as simple as that," Kaname said bitterly, looking away from them. Shion and Chikaru shared a look, they were obviously trying to figure out what was going on between Momomi and Kaname.

"So what's going on?" Shion asked.

Kaname bit her lip and sighed, as though trying to get the words out was causing her a great hardship...and it was. "Well, Momomi wants her and I to get married."

Shion and Chikaru grinned at each other. "Oh, that's amazing!" Chikaru said happily, clapping her hands together. "I'm sure you two will be great together!"

"Well..." Kaname started painfully, gazing up at the two. "The problem is...that I can't handle that sort of thing."

"Oh?" Chikaru said questioningly, looking highly interested. "Is that so? And why not?"

Kaname sighed heavily and leaned into the two, as though she were afraid someone would listen in to the conversation. "Don't pull that crap with me. You two are my best friends, you two...I hate to say it, but you know me better than anyone, you know me better than I know myself. You're smart, you figure it out."

Shion and Chikaru shared another look, thinking and connecting with each other, as Kaname had seen them do many times before. They blinked at each other, and then looked back to Kaname, obviously coming up with a conclusion.

"You're...hm...you're not ready for a long-term relationship, are you? You're afraid of being tied down, you want to be free and lead your own life, as your own person, without anyone getting in your way. Is that right?"

Kaname grudgingly nodded. "She knows. She knows I've been pushing her away since we talked about it, and that I've been a bit...timid...about it..."

"Perhaps," Shion started, and Kaname looked up at her. "Perhaps you two need a bit more time to work this out. After all, Momomi will be continuing school, won't she? It won't make any sense to get married right when Momomi starts her second year of college, and...this conflict you seem to be having with Hikari..."

"What about her?" Kaname spat, looking away. Lately, Hikari had been showing up a bit too much in her life. And she didn't like it one bit, it irritated her so much. She'd randomly see her with Amane in the store, walking with Amane down the street...always with that stupid girl.

Shion sighed and stood up, going over to close the window, since it was starting to get a bit cold. "It's always 'Hikari this' or 'Amane that'...Honestly, Kaname. You have to get over those two."

"I can't if they keep appearing in my life! Shion-san...they're everywhere! It's like...every time I turn a corner...I expect to see Hikari just...standing there..." Kaname said fiercely, lowering her tone. Shion rolled her eyes at Chikaru, who shrugged.

"That sounded highly paranoid, Kaname-san," Chikaru said cheerfully. "In any case, you should at least try to spark up your attitude. Remember, we're all meeting up again for Nagisa and Tamao's graduation ceremony in March."

Kaname gritted her teeth at the thought. Of course...the nitwit's graduation. She had totally forgotten. "Why do I have to go? It's not my graduation."

"We all got together for you and Momomi's graduation, remember?" Chikaru asked, smiling. "I think we should do the same for these girls. They've gone through a lot of hardships, especially Tamao-san, and they need to be supported."

Kaname sighed. "Chikaru-san, a bunch of us graduated at the same time. It was me, you, Amane and Momomi. I mean, we've been out of school for a year now, Shion for two years..."

"I know. But you should be respectfully, nonetheless," Chikaru said firmly. "And we're getting off the subject. About you and Momomi...well...there's nothing else that we can really say, besides the fact that you have to trust each other, and that should be the only thing that matters. Even if you two don't get married, even if you just remain intimate lovers, you can still trust and count on each other and love each other, right?"

"You know, if I didn't need help with this, I would have thought that what you just said was sickening," Kaname said, narrowing her eyes. But she was grateful for the little help that they were able to provide. She stood up and started toward the door. "Well...in any case...thanks for helping me."

"Anytime. And you and Momomi should come by more often. We could use a bit of company sometimes," Chikaru said cheerfully, smiling.

"We could?" Shion asked indifferently, receiving a light push of the arm. Kaname shook her head and opened the door.

"I might not be coming back anytime soon. I think I can take care of this situation on my own..." she said, and with a short wave, she exited the house and traveled back to where she and Momomi were staying. Of course, Momomi was there, leaning her back against the couch in the living room and playing Halo 3. She smirked and sat next to her, taking her into a soft embrace.

"Playing first-person shooters again, Momomi?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in curiosity. Perhaps it was the many hours of playing Halo that strived Momomi to be the scheming, evil girl that she was. Her cute face and a sweet-as-honey voice couldn't fool Kaname...or anyone else...anymore. But that was what she liked in Momomi, the fact that she proved the theory "looks can be deceiving".

Momomi paused the game and looked over at her lover, smiling. "Sometimes you need to take a break from summer work and kick back, relax and play some video games." They both laughed a bit, and silence fell among them. They looked at each other awkwardly, then Kaname stood and began pacing the room.

"Momomi," she started, sounding a bit intimidated for some reason. Momomi watched her, tilting her head in slight curiosity.

"What?"

"About...well, you know...the whole talk about m...ma..."

"Marriage?" Momomi said, looking amused. It sure looked like it was taking a lot to say the things she needed to say.

"Y-yes," Kaname said, looking away from her. "I was...well...thinking about it...and I think...I might be a bit...uncomfortable."

"No, really? I didn't even notice," Momomi said sarcastically, placing her hands over Kaname's now fiddling ones. "What is it about marriage do you think is so intimidating?"

Kaname and Momomi looked at each other, for a long while. Kaname felt as though they were speaking to each other telepathically, trying to understand each other. Kaname tried to send her thoughts to Momomi's brain.

_I can't really tell you in words...it's completely unfathomable at the moment. You wouldn't understand...I need my freedom, I can't have my life tied down...Then again...I love you more than anything or anyone, and I want to be with you more than we are now..._

"I don't know," she answered. It was lame, but it was true. She really didn't know what was so scary about marriage. She saw it all the time on television, the happy couples sitting around at the dinner table, talking to their children, taking them to camp or soccer practice...all of that seemed like a nice life to live. But not for Kaname. She knew perfectly well that they would either adopt or live alone, just the two of them. But really...would that change anything? They were living alone now as it was, and they acted so much like a married couple already people asked them about it. What would marriage do to their relationship? Nothing.

Momomi, however, seemed to think different. It was a huge thing to her. So why should she take that away from her? Because of her own feelings, that's what. It sickened Kaname down to the last bone in her body. She watched Momomi's expression turn from a look of curiosity to a slight melancholic look, and she nodded silently.

_This isn't turning out well,_ Kaname thought as she watched Momomi turn back to the game with a slight dim-ness of light in her eyes. She sighed and left, venturing off to her and Momomi's room to sit and think to herself a bit more. Momomi wasn't happy with her at the moment, she just knew it. And it was all her fault.

_From this moment on...I'm stepping on egg shells. A freaking river of them, and whether they'll end after a few steps or at the end of the river will decide on whether I stop being a coward, or suck up my pride._

With that thought in her mind, Kaname turned on her iPod and leaned back on her and Momomi's bed, engulfing her mind, body and spirit into the music.

_**Many months later...**_

"Is everyone here?" Hikari's voice called through a large group of people. It was March, and the 6th year students had just graduated from their time at Astrea Hill. Nagisa was partly sad about it, she would miss her old school days, even though she had only been there for two years. Tamao was just as sad, she wouldn't be able to see Nagisa every day anymore. But they both supposed that it was time to put their childish days behind them, and they had to become focused on being adults.

Everyone was celebrating afterwords, and an amazing amount of people were there. Kaname and Momomi were forced to come by Yaya...who was forced to come by Tsubomi...who was forced to come by Hikari. Kaname took deep displeasure in seeing Hikari again, she seemed a bit more pompous these days. It was as though she ran things there, being Etoile. And even though Amane had already graduated, her appearance at her old school won back her old fame. And so, naturally, the two were as popular as singers in a rock band. But their mind wasn't set on popularity at the moment, because many things were going on at once. It took a great deal of effort to name off all of the people who were present, and Hikari had the great honor of doing so.

"Let's see...eeto...Miyuki, Kaname-san, Momomi-san, Shizuma-sama, Nagisa-chan, Tamao-chan, Yaya-chan, Tsubomi-chan, Kagome-chan, Chiyo-chan, Kizuna-chan, Remon-chan, Chikaru-san, Shion-san, Amane..." Hikari was naming off the people on her fingers. She counted a total of sixteen girls, including herself.

"So that's everyone, I guess," Hikari said to no one in particular, and she looked around and smiled at Amane, who was talking to the head Sister of St. Spica. She caught her eye and smiled back. "Alright, everyone! Get ready for a group picture!"

Hikari noticed that this was a fatal mistake the moment she it left her mouth. All of the girls practically swarmed and trampled over each other, trying to get situated. Well, besides Kaname and Momomi, who were standing in a corner and watching the chaos unfold. After a few minutes, however, Hikari was able to get everyone under control.

"Alright. Shorter people to the front, taller to the back...no, Chiyo-chan, you can't be in the front or you'll be blocked!...Yaya-chan, you can't be in the front, move to the back!...oh brother," Hikari said under her breath, slapping her hand to her forehead and looking agitated. "Sometimes I hate being Etoile..." She watched as everyone sorted themselves according to their height, and stood back to examine the effect.

"Alright, good work everyone! Erm...Sister, do you mind taking a picture? Thank you..." Hikari said, and she forced herself into the group of girls, near the front, while Amane went to go stand with the older students.

"Everyone ready for the picture?!" the Sister asked, and a chorus of "Hai!" followed her. "Alright! San...ni...ichi..."

"Strike a pose!" Kizuna suddenly called, and the girls each went into their own poses. After the picture was done and developed, everyone was given a copy and they were pouring over them.

"Kaname-san, standing there like a statue isn't a pose," Kizuna said, and the people around her giggled.

"Of course it is, I'm posing as a statue," Kaname said, smiling. "And if you don't want your face to permanently represent a statue, I suggest you shut your big fat mouth."

A series of "Oooh's" and "Burn!'s" sounded in the room(mostly from Yaya and the older students), and Kizuna fell silent. Momomi rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, do you have to be so mean? She's only a fourth year."

Kaname blinked at her, tilting her head like an innocent five-year-old. Momomi rolled her eyes again and grabbed her arm.

"Come on, I want food." As Kaname was being dragged off, the Lulim Transformation Club was scheming again. Chikaru, Remon, Kizuna, Kagome and Chiyo were all huddled in a corner and speaking in low voices.

"So, what do you think about our plan for the Graduation party? It's amazing, right?" Kizuna asked, and instinctively grabbed Remon around the waist. "Me and Remon were talking about it all week."

"You two sure have a knack for things," Chikaru said, smiling widely at her apprentices. "And what do Kagome and Chiyo have to say about this?"

Kagome and Chiyo looked at each other, smiled at each other cheerfully, and nodded.

"Oshibaru thinks it's a great idea, and so do I," Kagome said softly, looking to Chiyo. "What about Chiyo-sama?"

"Agreed!" Chiyo said, giggling and smoothing back her hair, which had grown a bit longer since she started growing it out. Everyone had to admit...Chiyo was starting to blossom into a beautiful teenager. She was no longer shy or timid...well she was, but to an extent. Being with Kagome made her real personality awaken. Besides, she liked the fact that Kagome called her "Chiyo-sama." It was just too cute.

On the other side of the room, Kaname was at the piano playing "How to Save a Life" by The Fray, with Momomi sitting next to her and singing. Some people were watching them, others were too busy talking to notice. Yaya was pushing Tsubomi's hands with her own, trying to push her against a wall. Tsubomi was just too damn stubborn and resistant to just take it.

"Hey, everyone! We're migrating to the front gate and meeting at Chikaru and Shion's! Let's hit the road, okay?!" Amane suddenly called after half an hour. She had been getting furtive glances from the Sister, and it told Amane that she thought they were being too rowdy...and Amane had to admit...they were pretty rowdy. "Yaya-chan, give Tsubomi-chan a break and stop sitting on her, odds are you'll squish her."

"Are you calling me fat?" Yaya asked incredulously, not getting up from her perch. Tsubomi's disdainful growl could be heard under her squashed face.

"Yes...maybe I am," Amane said simply. They glared at each other, seemingly staring each other down. Then their faces broke into wide smirks and Yaya finally got off of Tsubomi.

"Honestly, if you weren't enjoying it that much, you should have told me sooner,_Tsu-chan_," Yaya said, giving herself a mental note to make a huge emphasis on Tsubomi's pet name. Tsubomi growled at her.

"For your_information_..." Tsubomi started, "my face was being crushed into the ground. I can't really talk through the floor."

Yaya and Tsubomi had their usual, bickering argument over nothing. It just proved that they were more of a couple than they ever thought possible. Their friends found it amusing, their parents found it annoying. But they didn't really care.

As the group exited the graduation ceremony, Nagisa and Tamao hung back. They both stood, side by side, looking at the site of the three schools. They looked at each other intensely. They knew, deep down in their guts, that they would never return. They would have to leave their high school memories behind.

"We'll be okay," Nagisa said, placing a hand on Tamao's shoulder. She could tell that her best friend was becoming melancholic, as she had been on the day of the Etoile elections. She wasn't smiling, and it was as though her very life was being drained out of her.

Tamao looked at her. A sudden wave of emotion flew through Nagisa's body. It was as though she were channeling all of Tamao's bitterness, emptiness and sadness. She frowned at her.

"It's not going to be the same," Tamao said softly, almost like a feeble whisper. "We won't be able to see each other as much anymore..."

"I know," Nagisa sad sadly, looking at the ground. Then she looked back up and attempted a smile. "But we'll still see each other around. We'll plan to see each other, and..."

"Don't be stupid," Tamao said, and Nagisa was taken aback by her sudden change in personality. She had never seen Tamao this way. "It's only been two years since we met...but it seems so much longer. It seems like we'll never get that time back. It's just...gone."

"Tamao-chan," Nagisa said firmly. "Don't think that way! We still have our memories, all the fun times we had..."

"Like the time we had to clean the whole church?" Tamao said, almost smiling. Nagisa scratched the back of her head.

"Well...maybe not that. But we had such fun in summer school, remember? And we saw Amane off during all of her competitions, and watching the tennis match between Kaname and Amane, and watching Kaname's ass get kicked."

Tamao shrugged. "It was fun in it's own way."

"And," Nagisa added, "you helped me through that horrible French exam. We had a lot of good times, see? We had some down times, too, but that's always something we can learn from."

"Why do you always have to be so riechous and carefree? You make me feel like a bad person," Tamao said, and Nagisa laughed, wrapped an arm around her best friend's shoulders, and led her off to the group. They appeared in front of Shizuma, who heard the whole conversation.

"How are my fellow Dorks?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood, and they both laughed and gave her a thumbs-up.

"We were just thinking about stuff," Nagisa said, and Tamao nodded.

"Oh, thinking about stuff. Very descriptive, you two." Shizuma wrapped her arms around the both of them, and ignored their protests as she crushed them both close to her as they walked away from Astrea Hill.

* * *

I can finally say...that the fan fic is done. DONE, do you hear me?! xD Thank you for being a loyal reader, I really appreciate you for sticking with me to the end. 


End file.
